Category: KidCare

Meet the Team: Lacey Scandaliato

This month,  Lacey Scandaliato, shares a little about herself. She is yet another smiling face at the reception desk in our office! Let’s get to know Lacey! Q: Where are you from? A: I was born in New Orleans, but I’ve lived in Jacksonville most of my life. Q: What is your favorite activity after work? A: My favorite thing to do after work is just relax. Not only do I work but I go to school full-time too. Q: How many children do you have or would you like to have? A: I can’t decide if I want 2 or 3 children. Q: Do you have any pets? A: Yes, I have a cockatiel named Winnie. 2 dogs, Frankie and Lucky, 3 cats, Bugsy, Pino, and Belle, and last but not least a sulcata tortoise named Gus. Q: How would you describe your job at Jax Beach Pediatrics? A: There’s definitely never a dull moment here. There is either always a phone to answer or a patient to check-in. Q: Are you what you wanted to be when you grow up? A: Well I am still growing up; I’m currently going to school to get a degree in Elementary Education. Q: What’s the number one question that you get asked in the office? A: The number one question I get asked is “do you speak Spanish?” Unfortunately I don’t speak Spanish, I took American Sign Language instead. Q: Have you seen in local trends (in illness) in the area that parents have questions about? A: There have been a lot of calls about rashes. The main question is “can I just have something called in?” Rashes could be from so many different things, and the doctor can’t diagnose over the phone so they always recommend bringing the child in to be evaluated. Q: Do you have any tips about what parents can do to make the most of their visits with the doctor? A: Write all the questions down so there isn’t one you forget and be completely honest with your child. Make them aware that the appointment is for them and let them know that they are getting shots at that visit. Many kids come in and the first question they ask us is “am I getting shots?” Tell us a funny story from the office. It was when the beach office started closing at 8:00pm. Nilsis and I were getting ready to leave and I had realized I didn’t have a key to lock the door. We were just going to wait until the cleaning crew arrived, but twenty minutes had passed and they hadn’t arrived yet. So I ended up calling one of the morning girls that was out in Ponte Vedra. After driving for fifteen minutes I got the key then got a phone call from Nilsis saying that the cleaning crew was there and we didn’t need the key.  

Meet the Team: Jennifer Kesphol

Please take a moment to get to know our office’s Referral Coordinator, Jennifer Kesphol, this month’s featured staff member. Q: Where are you from? A: I am of Puerto Rican & Spanish decent. Originally from Brooklyn, NY but consider myself a beach girl since I did go to Fletcher. Q: What’s your favorite activity after work? A: My favorite is riding bikes around the beach. My “usual” is cleaning and laundry through! Q: How many children do you have or would you like to have? A: I have a 6 yr old daughter and almost 2yr old son. Q: Do you have pets? What kind? A: Yes, we have a retired racing Greyhound named Percy. Q: How would you describe your job at Jax Beach Pediatrics? A: Busy! I don’t see our patients face-to-face as much as I did as an Medical Assistant and I’m on the phone  A LOT but I have a direct impact on their specialized care and enjoy what I do. Q: Are you what you wanted to be when you grew up? A: Yes, happy! Q: What’ the number #1 question you get asked in the office? A: By Patients: “how old is your baby now!?!” For some reason our patients always remember me as the very pregnant one and can’t believe it’s been 2 years already. By co-workers “did you get that message?” Q: Have you seen in local trends (in illness) in the area that parents have questions about? A: In my position I see patients who need specialist care. The most common things I see are nutrition related or allergy issues. Q: Do you have any tips about what parents can do to make the most of their visit with the doctor? A: Prepare your child and be honest. If they are coming for shots, tell them so. When kids think everyone at the office is “the mean one” they don’t trust us and that makes it harder to get them to cooperate. Q: Tell us one funny story from the office. A: Well, I helped with adopting one of our “office-cats”, Patrick through First Coast No More Homeless Pets. His tag was registered in my name. One night I got a phone call at 2am from the Gate gas station next to the office. They had Patrick locked in their bathroom!! They said he was running into the store and trying to steal snacks from the shelves! That cat was hilarious. He ended up going to a “real home’ with one of our patients families because he was too friendly to be just a porch kitty.  

Meet the Team – Diana Scandaliato

Our wonderful Office Manager Diana is camera shy, so it has taken us a while to get her ready for a close-up.  We cornered her recently, so now is the time to introduce you to Diana Scandaliato, featured team member for April! Q: Diana, tell us where you are from. A: I was born in Albany, NY but grew up in a small town about 20 miles south of Albany – Coxsackie, NY. Yes, just like the Coxsackie Virus! Q: Do you have children? A: Yes, I have 2 girls, age 20 and 16. Q: What about pets? A: Yes, everyone knows I am avid animal lover. Took great care of our office cat Lizzie until she got sick. My pride and joy is my miniature dachshund Frankie. I also have one other dog, a cat and a bird. Q: When you are not in the office, how do you spend your time? A: I like to go on walks, and spend time with family. Q: How would you describe your job at Pediatric Care Center? A: Very rewarding! Working with children is absolutely wonderful! Q: So, are you what you wanted to be when you grew up? A: Somewhat. I have always wanted to work with children so I guess you could say yes. Q: Awesome!  What tips can you offer parents to help them make the most of their visit? A: Be prepared with writing a list of questions – parents always forget to ask something! Diana, so glad we could take the time to snap your picture and chat with you today!  Before we close, can you share one funny story from the office? A: Wow, there are too many to pick just one! Recently one of the employees called to say she would be late because she got lost. She has been working at our new office for over 6 months now so I thought that was quite funny! That’s a line you use on your 1st week of employment!

Dr. Benitez in TU

Take a look at Mark Wood’s column today in the Florida Times-Union about Dr. B’s trip to Haiti. Click here to read the article!

Dr. Benitez Haiti Update #9

The following posts are updates as written by Anna Benitez, Dr. Benitez’ wife, relating Dr. Benitez’ experiences while he was in Haiti as part of the MIMA Foundation medical mission. I got him!! He is home and safe. He says it was a “tremendous experience” and he is very glad he went and is proud of the work the group did there. On a more personal note, I am surprised to see he is a bit traumatized from the trip. We have done a lot of missionary trips, to some of the poorest countries in the world, but this one seems to have had a strong effect on him. He says the devastation is extreme and the misery is tremendous. Please continue to pray for the workers that are there, the people that are affected and hope that the rebuilding of the country is in the best interest of the people. When I asked him what he wanted me to say in this note, he said “tell them I’ll be back to work on Friday!” Anna

Dr. Benitez Haiti Update #7

What a day … how do women send their husbands and sons off to war, for months and years … I don’t know how they do it. OK, they booked a small plane that flew them to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, arriving at 4p, YEA! For those that don’t know, Norberto and his son both went to medical school there so it’s almost a home away from home. They are having a hard time getting a flight home. They still haven’t left the airport trying to find someone that will book a flight for them to leave sometime tomorrow but all the airline desks are closed for the night. They are working with management to see if they can get something done tonight. In the meantime, they still haven’t eaten (the Haitian airport had bottled water but no food) and their day started at 4a this morning so frustrations are running high. Norberto was very upset that the Haitian government tried to make them pay an “airport tax” of $30 a piece before they could leave Port au Prince. They eventually had one of the Americans tell the Haitians that that wasn’t going to happen and it was “waived”. He said the airport reminded him of something out a movie about Vietnam, military guys with guns, planes and helicopters coming in and out, cargo everywhere. Hopefully, we can get some of the pictures emailed when he comes back. I will let everyone know when they have reached the states, in the meantime he is at least out of Haiti and that was the biggest challenge. Thanks for all the prayers! There were so many people that were working to get them all home, from Richard Quinn (our good friend that works with Homeland Security here at the port) to the Indiana Congressman, I even got a call from the “Commander of slot positions” from the Dept. of Defense … it makes you proud to be an American, Anna

Dr. Benitez Haiti Update #6

I was waiting to write this update, in the hopes that I could name it “Last Update” but that doesn’t seem to be happening so I thought I would shoot one out. Last night Norberto called to say the Haitian doctors showed up to help with the crowd. The American docs went into the hospital to seperate themselves from the triage and were sent all the patients that the Haitians thought needed seeing. Norberto said they saw all of them ~ over 200 cases! They were packing up, just a backpack each, and going to bed early in preparation for the trip this morning. He did say, even with all the meds and equipment they used they still left the hospital very stocked, “enough to last at least a couple of weeks.” So they were glad for that. Then at 10:45p last night I got a call from the Andre Carsen, the Congressman from Indiana (some of the other docs Norberto is with are from Indianapolis). He said they were involved and very concerned and going to work at getting them out. He wanted me to keep in touch with any information I get today through his chief of staff. So … at 7a this morning I text Norberto “where are you” he said still heading to the airport. Later he told me the driving is very difficult. The roads are cracked and potted and the closer you get to the capital there are people sleeping and living and walking everywhere. He said at the most they got to 30 mph, most of the time they were only going 10. At 8:15, Norberto calls me, a bit frantic, asking me for the “tail number of the plane the congressman sent.” He said they got a message that there was a private plane coming for them that was supposed to leave Haiti at 9am but they couldn’t find it. I called DC and got the tail number and the info that it was “at the east end of the terminal.” Well, long story short, the plane never left Florida and isn’t coming ~ this we just found out at 11:45. I spoke with the Congressman’s office and they are now speaking to the Air Force to see if they can get something down there to them. When I spoke to Norberto I asked him if the airport was chaos, he said “absolutely not, the American military are running it and it is organized and clean.” (gotta love our boys!). He sounds a bit edgy and anyone who knows Norberto knows he doesn’t do well just sitting around waiting. I’m hoping he stays put and doesn’t try to head to the Dominican just out of a need to be moving! Hopefully, my next post will be the last! Anna

Dr. Benitez Haiti Update #5

Norberto called this morning … which scared me a little because he usually only calls at night. He said that evidently one of the local politicians sent out the word that there were American doctors at the hospital offering free medical care and when they arrived at the hospital this morning there were over 2000 people waiting for them! He said a lot of them are things like, 3 month old scabies cases or a kid that says “my belly hurts” and triage has become a big problem. Every 6th person or so is a serious case but getting to those people has been difficult. They were trying to get some of the local Haitian doctors to help with triage because as they (the American doctors) tell the non-critical cases they won’t be seen they are becoming upset. He said at this point they are basically only working on crowd control. The plan is for them to leave early in the morning to be in Port au Prince first thing and hope to hop a plane, any plane to the States, anywhere in the States. If that fails they will have the driver take them into the Domincan Republic, sleep over night in the capital and try to get a Jet Blue flight out of there Wed. evening. He says they are not telling anyone they are going because they don’t want to incite the crowd anymore than necessary.

Dr. Benitez Haiti Update #4

Just hung up with Norberto and he sounds very deflated. They lost a 4 month old baby today. Brought in by the mother, very sick and so dehydrated they couldn’t start the IV. They took her into surgery to do a “cut down” (which is basically surgically opening a area to make sticking the needle in the vein more accesible). During the cut down procedure she crashed and he said four doctors worked on her before pronouncing her dead. He said the other docs were telling him, since he was the peds, it was his call to stop the code and finally after 45 minutes he did. It was then up to him to tell the mom. It has been a long time since he has been in that position, and I can imagine it gets harder with age. Then to make matters worse, as they were cleaning up the bed, a retired anesthesiologist got stuck with one of the used needles. They did a “quick test” (they had available at the hospital) on the mother and postmortem on the baby and determined they were both positive for AIDS. He said they called an Infectious Disease doctor in the States using the satellite phone and were able to start the doctor on some medicine that has been shown to greatly decrease the probability of her getting AIDS. He said there is a kit in the hospitals, put there by PIH (partners in health, an international medical missionary group) that has the meds for just this type of thing. They say that there is only a 3% chance that a doctor will get AIDS from a contaminated stick and this medicine drops that 3% by 70% so they are all feeling good about that …. but still …. very scary stuff. He went on to say that he saw 62 patients today and the group saw 200. He finished by saying “we are all doing OK, we feel good about what we are doing and we’ve been able to help a lot of people”. It sounded like he was telling himself more than me …. In re: to the flights. They think they have something out of the Dominican Republic on “tues or wed.” (which doesn’t sound very definite to me!). It will be a 12 hour drive but that is a lead they are working on. Please continue to pray for him and Papo and all the workers there, that they help as many as they can and then come home ~