Pediatrics in Fairhaven

The doctor your kid actually likes seeing.

Two pediatricians, one small practice, and a phone that gets answered by a nurse. We look after kids from their first week home through their last year of high school, and the grown-ups who bring them.

Book a visit Call the nurse line
Newborn through 18 Evenings Tue & Thu until 7 Nurse line every day
A bright Bluebird exam room with a soft mural, a small chair, and a big window
Same-day sick visits. Call by 10am on a weekday and we see your child today. Saturday mornings too.
How we help

What we do, in plain words.

No portal to decode, no phone tree. If it is on this list, call and we fit it in. If it is not, call anyway and we will tell you who to see.

Well visits & vaccines

Checkups on the schedule your child's age calls for, and the vaccines that go with them. You leave knowing what is due next and when.

Same-day sick visits

Fever, ear pain, the rash that arrived overnight. Call by 10am on a weekday and we see you that day. Your own doctor, not a stranger at urgent care.

Newborn care

A first visit within days of coming home. Feeding, weight, sleep, the jaundice check, and a number you can call at any hour without apologizing.

Sports physicals

The form for school, camp, or the team, done in one 20-minute visit. Bring the paperwork and we fill it out while you are here, not next week.

Behavior & development

Speech, attention, sleep, big feelings. We screen at every well visit and talk it through with you, with referrals when they would actually help.

Teens

Private time with the doctor from age 12. Skin, sleep, mood, sports, and the questions they will not ask with you in the room. We keep their confidence.

The nurse line

Call before you worry.

A pediatric nurse from our own team picks up, opens your child's chart, and tells you what to do. Most calls end with a plan, not a visit. Some end with "come in at 3" and a slot held for you.

(555) 555-0144

Nurses answer 7am to 9pm, every day of the year. From 9pm to 7am the same number reaches the on-call nurse, who can wake one of the doctors if it matters.

Good reasons to call

  • Fever, and which number actually matters at your child's age
  • Doses for acetaminophen and ibuprofen by weight, not by the box
  • Rashes, coughs, vomiting: wait it out at home or come in
  • "Is this an ER thing?" The most useful call we take
  • Refills, school forms, and referrals during office hours

What they will not do: diagnose a rash from a description, or call in antibiotics without seeing your child. That is for your child's sake, not ours.

New patients

Three steps, and then we know each other.

Whether your baby is due in March or your ten-year-old just needs a new doctor, it starts the same way.

  1. Call and ask for a new-patient visit.

    Ring (555) 555-0120 and Dana at the front desk will find you a first slot within two weeks. Expecting? Ask for a prenatal meet-and-greet instead. It is free, it is 20 minutes, and you get to see the room before the baby does.

  2. Fill out the forms at home.

    We email a short packet. Ten minutes, one cup of coffee. Bring the signed pages or a photo of them, whichever is easier at the door.

  3. Come meet us.

    First visits are booked for 40 minutes so nobody is rushed. Your child meets the doctor, the doctor meets you, and everyone leaves knowing what happens next.

The Bluebird waiting room in morning light, with a low bookshelf and a basket of toys

What to bring

  • Insurance card and a photo ID
  • Vaccine record, a photo of it is fine
  • Any medications, with the doses
  • The name of the previous practice, so we can request records
  • Something to eat and something to hold
Switching from another practice?

We welcome families switching practices, and we do it every week. Give us the name of the old office and we request the records. You never have to chase anyone.

The doctors

Two doctors. You will know both by name.

Your child has a primary doctor, but both see every chart. Whoever picks up at 2am already knows your kid.

Dr. Priya Rao, pediatrician, in a white coat with a stethoscope

Dr. Priya Rao, MD, FAAP

Pediatrics residency, Hartwell Children's. At Bluebird since 2011.

Newborns, feeding, and the first-year questions that feel too small to ask. She is the one who wrote the dosing card taped to half the fridges in Fairhaven.

Mother of a six-year-old and a nine-year-old, so she has sat in the 2am chair herself, and she remembers it when she picks up.

Dr. Thomas Whitlock, pediatrician, in a cardigan and glasses

Dr. Thomas Whitlock, MD, FAAP

Pediatrics, 26 years. Trained at Ashford General. Co-founded Bluebird.

School-age kids and teens, asthma, sports, and the long conversations. He has seen most things twice and is calm about all of them.

Keeps a drawer of stickers older than some of the parents, and still does the "look in the ear, find a quarter" trick. Toddlers fall for it every time.

After hours

It is 2am and your child is sick. Here is the order.

Most nights, the first call is the only call you need. Read this once now, so you do not have to read it then.

First

Call the nurse line.

(555) 555-0144

Overnight, the on-call nurse answers, reads your child's chart, and tells you whether this can wait until morning. If it can, we hold a slot for you at opening. If it cannot, they tell you where to go.

If it cannot wait

Maple Street Pediatric Urgent Care.

Our partner clinic, about 8 minutes from most of Fairhaven, open until 11pm every night. Kids only, so no adult waiting room. They send us the notes by morning and we follow up with you.

240 Maple Street · (555) 555-0190

Go to the ER, or call 911, if
  • Trouble breathing, or lips that look blue or grey
  • A fever of 100.4°F or higher in a baby under 3 months
  • A seizure, or a child you cannot wake
  • Swelling of the face or throat, or hives with trouble breathing
  • A head injury followed by vomiting or confusion

Then call us in the morning. We pick up where the ER left off.

Insurance

Plans we take, and what it costs if we do not take yours.

Bring the card to the first visit and we check the rest before you see the doctor. If something is not covered, we say so up front, not on a bill six weeks later.

In network with

  • Cascade Health
  • BlueRidge Family
  • Meridian Choice PPO
  • Harborline HMO & PPO
  • Northstar Kids (state plan)
  • Sentinel Health
  • Lakeshore Mutual

Not on the list? Call anyway. Plans change every January and we can usually tell you in a minute whether yours is in.

No insurance, or a plan we do not take?

We have a self-pay rate, and it is written down here rather than negotiated in the hallway.

  • Well visit$145
  • Sick visit$110
  • Sports physical$75
  • Nurse lineFree, always
Vaccines are billed at our cost. Payment plans are a phone call away; ask for Dana.
Visit

Two evenings a week, so you do not have to leave work early.

Hours

  • Monday8am to 5pm
  • Tuesday Evening8am to 7pm
  • Wednesday8am to 5pm
  • Thursday Evening8am to 7pm
  • Friday8am to 5pm
  • Saturday9am to noon, sick visits
  • SundayClosed

The nurse line answers 7am to 9pm every day, with the on-call nurse overnight.

Find us

18 Linden Court, Suite 2
Fairhaven
Open in Maps

Ground floor of the brick building across from Linden Park. Look for the blue door.

Parking Free lot behind the building, with two spaces by the side door marked for newborn pickups. The ramp is stroller-width and the door opens itself, so you never have to put anyone down.

Reach us

Front desk (555) 555-0120
Nurse line (555) 555-0144
hello@bluebirdpediatrics.example

Email is for forms and records, not for sick kids. If your child is unwell, call.

Book a visit
Built on Hatchable