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THE AACPP FAMILY
A bit of history about All About Children Pediatric Partners:
Founded by Dr. Kimball in 1991 at 326 North Fifth Street in the City of Reading in the 1200 square foot old Bruno fur store. We had brass chandeliers in our waiting room and remodeled fur display cabinets became the examining tables with contour sheets made from donated sheets and pads made from mattress “egg crates” covered with vinyl table cloths. Dr Kimball designed the HVAC system so that the exhaust from each examining room went directly to the outside and was not recirculated. As we grew, we rented two apartments upstairs to accommodate billing/bookkeeping and a place for staff to rest and eat. Dr. Kimball was joined by Dr. Barbara Haus, Ed. D., CPNP in 1993.
In 1995 we grew too large for our quarters and the former Mann School of Business/ St Joseph Clinic site at 132 South Fifth Street with 3900 square feet became available. Dr. Kimball purchased the building and renovated it with help from a grant from the city of Reading for the front and back ramps and additions. In September 1995, Fritz moving company moved she and Mrs. Mary Schucker, CPNP and the staff into our new quarters in the nick of time! Our second hand furniture came from the furniture outlet in West Reading. Reverend John Richter and many of our parents helped us to bless the office one weekend in the Spring of 1996 and we held our first Health Fair!
In 1996, we had the opportunity to become the first private practice Reach Out and Read site in the nation. Since that time we have given out more than 60,000 books to preschoolers and National Geographic magazines to older children at their checkups and follow-up or ill visits.
As we continued to grow, it became obvious that to serve our patients best, we needed an additional office in the Borough of West Reading. In 2000, Dr. ElSheikh joined us and late in 2000 additional space became available at 301 Penn Avenue Suite 200. After almost completely gutting the 4500 square feet, Dr. Kimball’s drawings became reality and we moved in to our additional space in May 2001 assisted by furniture found for us second hand by our nurse Patti Richard and her husband. We are proud to have assisted many young people at the start of their careers in many healthcare fields.
With the arrival of Dr. El Sheikh, “C Eve J Kimball, MD” didn’t seem appropriate, so after much discussion and change we became Reading/Berks Pediatric Associates and finally All About Children Pediatric Partners, PC -our name describing who we are: pediatricians, nurse practitioners, and staff working together with children and families in both the city and the suburbs! We welcome persons from diverse backgrounds and do our best to provide state of the art, culturally appropriate services for them.
Mrs. Nancy Bradley, CPNP, joined us to work part time in 2004 and retired in 2007 to devote more time to her grandchildren and family.
In April, 2006, Dr. Diana Schlesinger (former pediatric pulmonologist) joined the practice working part-time and in June, 2006, Dr. El Sheikh left the practice for a Hematology-Oncology fellowship at University of Iowa Medical Center.
In late 2006, Dr. Haus retired to spend part time in Florida with her husband, returning to us in the summer! Ms Schucker also left to work full time with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and devote more time to her family and ice skating. We welcomed Dr. Ranjini Chugh, MD in October, 2006 and Dr Varsha Lift, MD and Lenore Clarke, CPNP in December, 2006 (Mrs. Clarke left us in August to return to her job in the pharmaceutical industry full time). In January, 2007 Dr. Jennifer Brod, MD began working part-time for the practice and in January 2008, Dr. David Zobian, our first native Berks-Countian joined us. In December, 2008 our newest pediatrician arrived from the Phillippines, Dr. Katrina Poblete. On July 1, 2009, Heather Muhr, CPNP joined us from Lehigh Valley. She is working full time and we are SO pleased to have her!
On June 25, 2008, we were very excited to occupy our new facilities at 655 Walnut Street (7th Avenue and Walnut Street) in West Reading. Our 16000+ square foot facility has been remodeled especially for us. It is designed with infection preventing strategies such as direct exhausting of air from patient areas to the outside and 28 examining rooms. Patients go directly to the examining room for privacy and infection control unless there are insurance or registration problems. Our care-coordinator and intake coordinator each have their own interviewing areas, and there is private access to billing and referral personnel.
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