Vaccination Schedule

.Our Vaccination Policy

We firmly believe in the effectiveness of vaccines  to prevent serious illness and save lives.

We firmly believe in the safety of pediatric vaccines.

We firmly believe that all children and  young adults should receive the recommended vaccines according to the schedule published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

We firmly believe, based on all available medical and scientific literature, evidence, and current medical studies, that vaccines do not cause developmental disabilities or autism.

We firmly believe that thimerosal, a preservative that has been in vaccines for decades does not cause developmental disabilities or autism. However, none of the vaccines that we offer in this office contain thimerosal.

We firmly believe that vaccinating children and young adults is the single most important preventative intervention we perform as health care providers. The recommended vaccines and their schedule are the results of many years of scientific study and data-gathering on millions of children by thousands of our brightest scientists and physicians.

These things being said, we recognize that there has always been and will likely always be controversy surrounding vaccinations. The vaccine campaign is truly a victim of its own success. It is precisely because vaccines are so effective at preventing illness that we are even discussing whether or not they should be given. Because of vaccines, many of you have never seen a child with polio, tetanus, whooping cough, meningitis or even chicken pox. Such success can make us complacent about vaccinating. This attitude, if widespread, can only lead to tragic results.

Over the past several years, some people have chosen not to vaccinate their children or rather to  vaccinate on alternative vaccine schedules. Unfortunately, some of these decisions were made based on one flawed study that was later formally retracted, in which it was suggested that the MMR vaccine caused autism. As a result, there have been outbreaks of all of these preventable illnesses, leading to deaths and disabilities from complications of these diseases which should never have occurred.

Counting on others being vaccinated to protect those that are unvaccinated is unacceptable. Vaccines work best when each person in a community commits to preventing spread of communicable diseases.

We have carefully thought through our office policy and are confident that in choosing our practice you agree with our medical reasoning and recommendations. We recognize the choice may be an emotional one for some parents. We absolutely believe that vaccinating according to the schedule is the right thing to do. However, should you have doubts, please discuss these concerns with your provider  in advance of your visit. We require that you commit to actively vaccinate your children and commit to complete the schedule per standard recommendations.  Please be advised that “spreading out the vaccines” to give one or two at a time goes against expert recommendations and can put your child at risk for serious illness and death and goes against our medical advice.

It is not our desire to manipulate you to vaccinate your child. You are your child’s advocate and you must do what you feel is best for your child and family.  We want to respect your convictions just as we want ours respected.  Nonetheless, if you refuse to vaccinate your child, we will ask you to find another practice that shares your philosophy on vaccines.

 

Click HERE for a link to our current vaccination policy.

We follow the CDC’s vaccination guidelines which can be found below.

CDC Guidelines 1
CDC Guidelines 2
CDC Guidelines 3
CDC Guidelines 4
CDC Guidelines 5
CDC Guidelines 6
CDC Guidelines 7
CDC Guidelines 8

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Well Care Visits

Children grow quickly in the first years of life so we believe that well visits are important for preventative measures. This allows us to ensure that your child is staying healthy and reaching appropriate developmental milestones. We recommend well visits at the 2 week mark as well as the 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 month mark. We also recommend a visit when a child turns 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10 years old.

Immunizations

We follow the CDC’s vaccination guidelines.

Sick Visits

We offer same day sick appointments for your child, but can’t guarantee that your child will see their usual provider. Call our office and we will help you schedule an appointment so your child can be seen as quick as possible.

After Hours/Weekend Care

You should always call our main number to reach after-hour or weekend assistance. There are Saturday sick appointments at our office starting at 8:00 am until around noon. We reserve the right to charge $25.00 for after-hours phone calls. We hope you consider the information you receive after-hours to be valuable and worth that expense. Please note that many of your insurance companies provide you with free nursing advice so you may want to call them first. However, if you use our services we will expect you to pay for them.

Lactation Counseling

Our nurse practitioner, Julie Edwards APRN-CLC, is available for lactation counseling appointments to guide and support breastfeeding mothers and babies. Julie is able to provide clinical breastfeeding knowledge as well as information that aligns with the CDC’s breastfeeding recommendations.  

ADDRESS

723 Chapin Road
Chapin, SC 29036

PHONE

803.932.2200 Phone
803.932.2225 Fax

OFFICE HOURS

Monday through Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm.
We do not close for lunch.

Saturday hours are 8:00am-12pm.

NCQA Recognized Practice