Northwestern Medicine Pediatrics Glen Ellyn

"Shout-out to Allison from billing you went out of her way to help me with a health insurance company. I greatly appreciate it!!!"

"We were sooo extremely happy with Dr. Joseph Christensen, from Northwestern Medicine, in Glen Ellyn. He was extremely kind and the office was very helpful when I called with various questions regarding my newborn. It wasn't until this past summer that our experience changed. My son, who was just over a year old, was VERY clearly experiencing an allergic reaction, (hives all over his body, increasing in size and number by the day) to amoxicillin that the office prescribed for an ear infection. I called the office repeatedly and sent messages to MyChart (including progression pictures of the hives and expressing my concern). Nurse Jenny spoke with me over the phone, and responded to my MyChart messages collectively over 7 times throughout the course of 48 days. She assured me that my sons terrible reaction and multiplying/progressing hives were "completely normal" and I had "nothing to be worried about!" Then she assured me that she spoke with Dr. Christensen who, agreed with her. She then advised me (under Dr. Christensen's orders) to continue giving my son the amoxicillin, which was well established was the only cause of the hives. My son ended up being rushed to the emergency room and being held over night. Every nurse and doctor in the emergency room was appalled that our pediatrician did not recognize this very obvious reaction as hives. They were even more appalled that I was instructed to CONTINUE administering the amoxicillin, even after Dr. Christensen and nurse Jenny saw the pictures. When I sent emergency room aftermath pictures to the Dr. Christensen's office and requested to talk to him, it took over a week for someone to get back to me. The person who called me back was "head of nurses", and they refused to let me speak with Dr. Christensen about what happened/how we ended up in the emergency room. All I wanted was to have a conversation with my pediatrician about what went wrong and how we can avoid something like this happening in the future. I never heard from Dr. Christensen since. I have gotten completely blown off, and I feel that my son and I were extremely disrespected. The medical advice they kept INSISTING I abide by was extremely dangerous and reckless and it put my sons life at risk. I initially thought he was a great pediatrician, and I wanted to continue with him and give him the benefit of the doubt. Longgg story short, if you want a pediatrician who knows what COMMON hives look like, and would have the knowledge to demand you stop giving your child medicine that is giving them a allergic reaction, DO NOT see Dr. Christensen, or take advice from Nurse Jenny. Also, if you want it to be IMPOSSIBLE for you to speak with your pediatrician (outside of in-office appointments) Dr. Chistensen is the one for you. Unbelievably disappointed and scared by the reckless advice given by this office."

"I had an appointment at 12 pm on 5/26/22 and the clinic confirmed the appointment two days before and again a day before the appointment. On the day of the appointment they called and rescheduled the appointment to 4:20 pm. I accepted and told them I have to pick my son from school and will come directly to the clinic. I reached for my appointment just 12 mins late due to traffic and they told me to come after 3 hours or reschedule the appointment to another date. Such an unaccommodating person at the reception. If your patients are being accommodating by accepting the change on the day of the appointment, you should at least be a little accommodating or be a little apologetic. If I had known about the change in time a day before the appointment I would have made arrangements for my son to be picked from school. I understand things can come up at the last minute, my point is only that if you are the one who changed the time on the day of, then be a little more accommodating for patients trying to make it to the appointment. I have always been on time for all my previous appointments and have had to wait for at least 30 minutes. But today when I was 12 mins over I was told to come back after a few hours."

"Team is very nice and helpful. I give 4 stars because I feel they could handle better the delayed COVID testing results. Very few people will wait in the house for more than 3 days for a test result to confirm whether they have COVID or not. It seems weird that NW cannot offer same day results as other providers (Northshore, etc)."

"We are seeing Dr Thomas DeStefani for our newborn and I personally could not be happier with the service and care we are receiving here. We get to our appt 10-15 mins early, are led to a room immediately. The nurses have the baby weighed and measured as usual. Around the actual appointment time Dr DeStefani comes in, does the exam and we're on our way. The staff is friendly, courteous and professional through the entire process. As far as Dr Destefani goes, I personally feel he doesn't give me any advice he wouldn't apply to his own children or grandkids at home. We really like his outlook and he takes time to explain his reasoning on his approaches or conclusions if you so inquire. There's no question regarding your child that is too dumb to ask him. He will answer and educate you as to the "why's" of why he believes what he does about immunizations, medicating, etc. Every time I leave I feel more educated about the wellbeing of our newborn, as well as what to expect in the future visits. I can't recommend him (and his staff) highly enough."