Don D. Sponenberg, MD 3231 South National Avenue, Springfield, MO 65807

"Seen him when I was a child, he seemed ok then. Have taken both of my boys to him and he's terrible. Extremely rude to the parents and the children. Impatient with children who are scared. His bedside manner is appalling, he has no business working with kids. He should have gotten out of the medical field 10 years ago. DO NOT get an appointment with Dr. Sponenberg."

"We would give absolutely no stars if possible. We’ve seen This doctor two times, when our regular pediatrician has been unavailable and both times were awful. The first visit was in May of 2021 for my four year old daughter who had a UTI. She began showing signs of UTI on vacation in Texas, we took her to a clinic there where they confirmed she had a UTI and prescribed antibiotics and for us to follow up with out doctor. When we made it back to Missouri I called to sit an appointment up with our normal pediatrician and she was on vacation so they gave us an appointment with Dr. Sponenberg. During the visit he pulled my daughters pants down without first asking her or informing anyone he was going to do so. I had to step between him and my four year old and explain to her why this was happening during her exam and ask her if it was ok beforehand since he had failed to do so. Terrible bedside manner. Then he tried to tell us she did not have a UTI when she had already been urine tested in Texas and received lab results back (which I had brought the paperwork to the visit). We left and I just kept giving her the antibiotics until the prescription was up and she was fine. Then this year (January 2022) we needed our son seen for illness and our regular pediatrician has left Mercy for a new job so we were scheduled with Dr. Sponenberg again, I was hoping this visit would be better. My 7 month old had been running a fever between 102.7 and 104.0 with meds, cough, congestion, loud breathing, vomiting, loss of appetite, changes in skin color and behavior. We brought him in and I requested during the visit that he be tested for flu, and covid. Dr. Sponenberg did not want to run ANY tests on my baby. “I don’t believe it is covid he has no respiratory symptoms”, I had to argue with this man for my son to atleast be tested for the flu. The flu results came back negative and Dr. Sponenberg informed us smuggly of the results. There was a point in the visit that he literally told me to “stop talking” and then talked over me when I was describing my sons loss of appetite compared to what he normally takes in formula and breast milk. We went to republic family medical where our concerns about our baby were listened to and he was tested for covid, his results came back positive."

"Our DR. Had moved to St. Louis so we were in need of another dr very soon due to my daughter having neurological issues (missing her corpus colosseum and enlarged vintricals in her brain also add we just had a tumor removed in December from her brain she’s 3) and having a very weak immune system we had to act fast. So I chose dr Sponenburg. The first time we saw him he was I would say “ok” I thought maybe his poor attitude he wasn’t having a good day so I blew it off. While we were at our first appointment with her she was needing to get a cathader and an iv along with a look over, ears, eyes, mouth etc. She being three obviously took this as a very traumatic experience.I mention this because the second time we saw him only a week later was because her school had requested a physical well check up. When we arrive my baby was upset and He had no sympathy and no bed side manner what so ever! He firmly spoke to her telling her to “stop acting like that you stop it right now”. I was VERY upset to say the least then at the end of her appointment proceed to look at me and ask “ why in the world would she act like that” with a rude scuff at the end. I just simply asked if he had read over her charts. A baby at the age of three who has been in and out of the hospital multiple times and has now been scheduled for a second surgery in less than a year I’m sorry but I don’t need to explain why she is a little frightened by any dr or nurse. I myself am a dental assistant and had worked in pediatric surgery and have delt with many children I would have never disrespected or treated a kid poorly do to them being scared and upset EXPECIALLY a child with a disability. With all that being said yesterday I had my last straw our THIRD AND FINAL time of seeing him. I knowing the way he had acted the time before had called to speak with a nurse to even see if she was wanting us to come in due to my daughter vomiting all night. They say we need to come in. We come and meet with Amber the very sweet nurse who actually had commented on how well my daughter was behaving. My daughter had not shed a tear since we walked in and got seen. As DR. Sponenburg comes in amber leaves. my daughter looks at me and ask if she can please not have to lay down this time for him to look over her on the table. I’m in middle conversation with her as the DR. grabs her shoulders and inturupts me to say “ No we are laying down today” forsfully pushing her back on the table with out asking me for assistance or even a chance to respond he puts his hand on her chest to keep her from getting up. Then she looks at me for help and says mommy ONE time. He keeps his hand on her chest so due to her nervousness she has “ticks” ( best described by her neurologist Dr Collins as a kid diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome has ticks she does as well she makes noises to express how she feels) so she starts making a “bopping” noise. When she does he pushes on her telling her to “be quite” and to “STOP IT STOP IT RIGHT NOW” raising his voice. At this point I had had enough and told him to be more gentle with my daughter. He starts to pinch her belly multiple times and tries to explain that’s how he knows she’s not dehydrated. Which clearly I knew she wasn’t due to the tears she now has running down her quite face. She says “can you stop you’re hurting me” do to the pinching that was uncalled for and he says to her “NO IM NOT HURTING YOU NOW YOU BE QUITE” he then continued to grab her face without asking her to move first to turn her to look in her ears. I grabbed her up. Even after all this she asked what his name was and was trying to have a conversation with him which he ignored. I spoke with Amber the nurse after he left and expressed my feelings and that we would not be coming back. A Man who is that frustrated with children especially one with a disability should NOT be seeing children EVER. I went straight to the main hospital and put in a report. I will be letting EVERYONE with children know! If you are looking for a DR. FOR YOUR CHILDREN DONT COME HERE!!!!!"

"My wife took my 3 year old daughter in today to see Dr Sponenberg and could not believe how appalling his manners are. He told my daughter to "Shut Up" and "Stop it and be quiet" also felt the need to press his hand forcefully on her chest to keep her held down. Even though the nurse staff made several comments about how great my daughters behavior was this day. This guy has zero business working with kids. Especially kids like mine who also have neurological conditions. If you are looking for a place to take your kids this is not it."

"When my son had a problem, our GP doctor in Aurora would not even respond to a written request (delivered to the Clinic front desk) for help (or a referral). A friend recommended Dr Sponenberg, who stayed at his office late the following day, just to examine our son. Dr Sponenberg had never treated my son and did not know us, but stayed late out of a sincere desire to help. You can look long and hard, without ever finding this kind of doctor."