Cereal City Pediatrics — Local services in Battle Creek

We have been coming to Cereal City Pediatrics for over 2 years now, beginning when our oldest was 2 and continuing through the birth of our second child. The staff are all knowledgeable and caring, the 24 hour advice nurse line has been a godsend, and the facility is clean and well-kept. We’ve seen several of the providers at this point and have been impressed across the board. Our favorite is Martha, but I’ve also had great experiences with Dr. Halonen as well. One of my children has sensory processing disorder, and any sensory meltdowns in the office have been met with calmness and kindness from the staff; during one especially bad episode, Martha removed my daughter from the room and read to her in an empty room for a couple of minutes so I could tend to my other child. She (Martha) never fails to ask how my husband is doing, remembering that he was deployed for 6 months last year.

We have had to pursue referrals for 3 different situations (OT, pediatric ENT, and pediatric gastro), and for the most part those have all been handled in a timely manner by the referral secretary.

The only negative experience I have had here so far has been with an apparent lack of education across the board on caring for an intact (uncircumcised) infant. I had to tell more than one provider not to touch my son’s foreskin (during routine well checks, never having had a concern with his diaper area that would require moving things around), which concerned me as it went against the most up-to-date recommendations on intact care. I submitted a letter to his file requesting that any touching of his diaper area be approved by his parents and I included the most current recommendations by the AAP for intact care. To date, that request has been acknowledged and honored, which I appreciate so much. We have never had an issue being seen in a timely manner, be it during weekdays or over the weekend. I’m so grateful to have such a quality place to take my children when...

Do not bring your children here if you want them to receive care. Especially if they have special needs. The staff are extremely rude. They also try to turn it around like you are the problem. When in reality after my family experienced a very traumatic incident with the staff at this office I have heard multiple people state they have had similar experiences. Voices were raised during conversations ONLY after staff were repeatedly uncompassionate and frustration at not receiving help kicked in. No threats were made. Just parents trying to receive care for their child from her primary care physician. I don’t know how you in good conscience could turn away a little girl for being 7 mins late to an appointment. Life happens. I have NEVER been to a doctor’s office that didn’t at least give a small window to make it to your appointment. This office will turn you away for being a few minutes late but will make you sit in their waiting room over an hour past your scheduled appointment time to see a medical provider. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. I have worked in the medical field for many years and have never seen this kind of neglect and unprofessionalism. The entire situation could have been calmly handled but the staff here had no interest in doing that. Read all the reviews many have had negative experiences the 3 star rating...

The doctors and nurses are great but the billing was frustrating. Almost every well visit I received a bill that was later waived( but only after one or two calls to clarify which took time and memory which, as a mom are in short supply!). We also changed insurance during our time with Cereal City, specifically chose an insurance that they were in-network with and confirmed at the sick visit that I didn't have a co-pay or anything prior to seeing the nurse and then were told after a sick visit that they were out of network and there was nothing they or the insurance company could do...that was frustrating and unfortunate. The support staff in a doctors office is still very important and it was frustrating to constantly be having to check our insurance, what's being covered, confirm with the practice... it was not as seamless as other practices we have been a part of...