Choosing a Healthcare Provider for Your Child
As parents, you strive to give your children the best life possible. As they mature, you want to ensure they’ll be healthy, happy, and ready to step out into the world on their own. So, shouldn’t you get the best possible healthcare services for them? Children’s medical needs are unique. Therefore, opting for a provider who is uniquely trained to meet those needs can make a huge difference in your child’s long-term health.
Why Establishing Your Child with a Provider is Important
When you establish your child with a provider for the first time, you aren’t just bringing them in for a one-time appointment — you’re establishing a relationship that will span your child’s entire life into adulthood. Pediatricians, family practice physicians, and nurse practitioners each use years of training and experience to treat children’s unique medical needs. Some of these medical services may include:
- Treating acute illnesses and injuries in patients ages newborn to 21
- Diagnosing, treating, and managing chronic illnesses in children such as asthma and diabetes
- Performing routine checkups, physicals, and exams for children
- Providing behavioral health counseling
- Providing immunizations and vaccinations
- Helping determine healthy lifestyles for children and finding useful ways to model those choices
- Offering advice to prevent illnesses and injuries
- Treating life-threatening conditions requiring intensive care
- Guiding parents in what their children will need from newborn to age 21
Choosing a Provider
Particularly with first-time parents or families that have relocated, finding the right provider for their children can seem challenging — how do you know where to begin? Your first source should be those who utilize pediatric services the most: fellow parents. Talk to other parents you know and trust and find out which providers they recommend. Your OB/GYN and primary care providers may have recommendations, and, of course, Carlinville Area Hospital & Clinics in Gillespie and Carlinville are staffed with providers experienced in caring for pediatric patients as well. Wondering how soon your baby should see a provider after birth? Typically, hospitals will provide guidance for scheduling your baby’s first pediatric visit. Newborn examinations are usually performed within 24 hours of birth; after that, your baby’s first in-office checkup will be between 3-5 days old.
Connect with expert care locally. Schedule your children’s appointments at a CAH&C Rural Health Clinic nearest you, including the pediatrics-focused clinic in Gillespie, with Therese L. Polo, MD and Tawny Thomas, DNP, FNP-BC.
Posted in Healthy Connections on Jun 27, 2025
