Kiwi Pediatrics Medical Group

We love Dr. Kittams! And the office staff is always so kind to us, especially Debra.

We love the doctors at Kiwi especially Elizabeth Salsburg and Robin Winokur! For them alone I would give 5 stars. They always take time to answer all questions, provide loving and gentle care to my daughter and are available after hours to help in an emergency!
The office staff is generally helpful but at times a can be a bit brusk. The location is great but the office could use some updating. (this is why they didn’t get 5 stars) We spent the first 3 years at the South Berkeley office and that was even better but I am grateful that they have 2 locations. It meant it was super easy when we moved from N Oakland to Central Berkeley.

I have mixed feelings about Kiwi, but on the whole I was moderately satisfied with their practice. The office staff is good at supporting requests and getting back to you same day. I felt that I often had to leave messages, though, and I found that frustrating. The phones are off from noon-​2pm, which seems like a really long time. The waiting room is bare-​bones and the facility is old but functional. On the one hand, I never had to wait to get into a room for very long. On the other hand, if you are waiting in the reception area you have to be very vigilant with toddlers. The space is tiny and the door, when opened, takes up a lot of space.
In my experience we saw a lot of nurses and physicians in training. This came with highly mixed results. For the most part, they were OK, but one time Dr. Winnokur was training someone who conducted my son’s 18month check-​up and she hurt his ear very badly. He howled like I had never heard him scream before when she put the otoscope in his left ear. She was doing it so slowly that he squirmed, and she scraped him as she removed it. Another time we had to wait an extra long time while the technician in training had to do a particular procedure three times and then ask for help.
I felt that I could trust the doctors themselves, and I believe they are all competent. The best people we saw were Melissa, a P.N.P — she is fantastic, and a younger man whose name I don’t remember. He was very gentle and sweet with my son on several sick visits.

So we have been going here for both of our sons and to be honest the staff and doctors have been fantastic.
Dr Winnokur was excellent for our first born treatment and was there for our second born as well. Dr Salsburg had seen both of our children in the hospital and the NICU for care. Dr Kittams is the main doctor we see regularly; we always seem his advice and insight and his expert care goes a long way with our family. The nurse practioners have all been great! The receptionists have been awesome often squeezing us in at the last minute.
Even for weekend emergencies and things all the doctors have always been there and very attentive.
Looking at the reviews the wife and I felt we should make this review as we feel very strongly and positively about the staff, doctors and treatments from kiwi from delivery and beyond.
Thank you everyone at kiwi pediatrics!

They’re usually 30 to 45 minutes late with appointments which is just wonderful when you have 2 sick toddlers with you. The front desk lady hates her job and she’ll let you know it by giving you an attitude. Your kids will rarely see the doctor and usually seen by a nurse. The last nurse was a young guy who had absolutely no clue what he was talking about. The nurse missed my daughters ear infection and we ended up going to children’s hospital where they found the ear infection. My 1 week old baby didn’t seem right so I took him in to see the nurse at kiwi, the doctor said «oh he’s fine», we ended up taking him to Alta bates where he has severe jaundice and had to be in the nicu for a week. That was the last straw, this place may possibly hurt your children with their mindless wanna be hippy attitudes

Coincidentally this used to be my pediatrician.
This place is horrible. I don’t even mind the old building or the dirty offices but my main complaint is the front desk people and the one chunky Chinese nurse – They are extremely rude.
The front desk people (especially the Hispanic looking woman) act like they have better things to do then help you with making appointments or answering questions regarding insurance. The Chinese nurse got really short with my husband for not waiting patiently for the doctor in one of the rooms (he had been waiting for 45 mins with a very hungry newborn) and talked crap about him to the receptionist not realizing he was right behind her– every since then she’s been super fake nice to us.
We rarely see the doctors but mostly the nurse practitioners who are OK. The doctors are OK too however, one of the nurses didn’t detect my daughter’s ear infection so we ended up taking her to Children’s Hospital in Oakland where they found she did indeed have an ear infection ($ 250 later on top of the Kiwi bill).
Average waiting time to be seen is between 30 mins to 45 mins.
We kept going to them because they are the closest to us but luckily we just changed our insurance and Kiwi doesn’t accept it so we have to change office’s now. I heard great things about Berkeley Pediatric Group and that’s where we’ll be taking our children from now on.

This is a great practice. It is not shiny and sparkling new, but the staff and doctors are excellent. I have seen nearly every nurse and doctor here as I have 5 kids and have not had a complaint about 1. They take their time and really listen. We especially like Dr. Winokur. I’m only giving 4 stars because the office is pretty old and not outdated and very small, but it is clean. I would otherwise give 5 stars!

been taking the kids here since birth oldest is nearly 20, middle is 17, youngest just turned 10. had yet another informative, respectful, and patient experience at kiwi last night. yes, they make evening appointments to accommodate working parents! walked in on time for a 6:30 appointment, did not even have time to sit down in waiting room before nurse took us in and started the appointment. between the three staff we saw (intake nurse, medical student/​resident, and dr– this time it was dr. salzburg, though they are all excellent) they spent over one and a half ghouls with us. this was my son’s annual well visit. dr. took time to explain every detail of wheat she was doing, answered questions that we had, and was incredibly kid centric. i am so grateful that we go to kiwi, this was above and beyond what i would expect from any doctor’s office. i cannot emphasize how great they are. fyi– the office accepts many insurance companies, and also works with medical and other local support services. they are the best!!!

They just added new extended hours M.W.F 7−9pm, I called in on Tuesday for my daughter’s pink eye and told the normal office hour are all booked for the rest of the week but there are opening the next day at either 7 or 8, I took the 8 am spot and assumed that is a scheduled time for our appointment, however, we waited till 8:50 to get in and another 10 mins to get to see the nurse, we could come at 8:30, really! There are ants marching on the counter in the room we were waiting, that tells me they really need to clean their environment, really!

My son has gone here for ten years, since infancy.
The clinic has never been a super match for me — but I also wanted my son to have consistency as he was a very sick baby.
My main complaints:
* Never actually see the doctor, only the nurses (it’s been over 2 years since we’ve seen a doctor here, even though we’ve requested that)
* Dirty looking exam rooms — they are probably fine, but they have never been beautified of upgraded (or scrubbed?) in the time we have been there.
As well, one of the main reasons we went there in was because we heard that Dr. Winokur does not get pushy around immunizations. — YES — our child has had all of his shots — but because he was So ill as an infant it was important to us that we spread them out over time. But even so I felt pressured around immunizations by her and the staff.

There may be a better pediatric doctor than Dr. Elizabeth Salzburg, but they are probably working at the Mayo clinic! We love her and Kiwi. Ask her about the Salzburg technique for breastfeeding! We literally entered hysterical after meeting with the lactation consultant and attending the breast feeding class at Alta Bates with no luck, and left confident with a baby firmly latched feeding like there was no tomorrow. Love them.

I’ve finally broken up with Kiwi, and I feel great about it. I initially chose them because I was new to town, didn’t know any better, and liked that they are very pro-​breastfeeding. Unfortunately, I had a series of terrible interactions with their doctors and front office staff, including:
Being left alone in an exam room for 45 minutes with no one, NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON, coming in to explain or apologize for the doctor being late. When Dr. Kittams came in, he apologized for being late because he was performing circumcisions. Then he was rough and impatient with my one year old. If you don’t like kids, pick another specialty.
AND the one time I called their advice line, the doctor on the other end spent a long time trying to figure out if I was really a patient, and wouldn’t talk to me about my 5 week old daughter until she was convinced that I was.
Also, their exam rooms are freezing cold and dirty.
I’m glad to be taking my business elsewhere.

I’m not changing my star rating but I did want to mention Dr. Ben is gone!!!:(he is a lovely man who is a free spirit, He had had enough time in the bay area and decided to move on and leave the US for a while to travel. My daughter cried about this guys, that’s how much she loved her doctor… My son will miss him too. We really only saw him since he was born and well, now we will work with Dr. Kittams who has a great approach to explaining EVERYTHING. To his young patients. In a conversation with him he told me Ben was one of the best doctors, and I was happy to hear that because I knew
This but just thought I was biased because Ben and my kids had a really awesome relationship. I hope that whoever they hire has the same approach to medicine, which means that they listen to their patients needs aren’t quick to prescribe stuff that is unnecessary to shut a parent up and who genuinely cares for his/​her patients. And who speaks a crap load of languages because that is so important in our community.

I love Kiwi! I’ve been taking my daughter there for a year now. Our regular pediatrician is Dr. Jarrahi, but we’ve also seen Dr. Kittams once and the NP once for a short-​notice appt. Everyone on staff has been very friendly to us. I never feel rushed while talking to the doctor. They’ve always given me plenty of time to ask questions and been very reassuring when I have concerns. I’ve never felt like they had a particular parenting philosophy or agenda to push.
They have an 800 number you can call ²⁴⁄₇ for advice. I used it once (over a holiday weekend), got excellent tips for resolving a diaper rash, then got a follow-​up call on Monday.
And you get a book at every check-​up!

We’ve been going to Kiwi Pediatric for 8+ years now and have had mostly good experiences with them. I like that they are very clear about their motives behind recommending a treatment or xray/​lab test.
Dr. Winokur merits 5+ stars. She makes the kids feel as comfortable as possible and really listens to their needs in their own words (and ours in our own, too). She really feels like she could be your loveable but quirky aunt. Dr. Salsburg is also top notch. We’ve definitely had some unpleasant interactions with Dr. Kittams and now carefully avoid him. Others have raved about him to us, though, so maybe we’ve just had bad luck with him. We’ve somehow never met the other doctor.
The play space in the waiting room is great from a kid’s point of view, but often smells a bit off and feels a bit unclean for a medical facility. Probably replacing that ancient carpeting would eliminate the problem.
Car parking there is easy. There are no dedicated bike posts, you need to lock up to a meter out on San Pablo Ave.
They close for what feels like half of the day for lunch. noon to 2pm, I think.
The receptionist seems not to handle stress very well, as others have pointed out, but she’s quite friendly most of the time.

Ok, the staff is really nice and friendly which is always good. The doctor is nice, but always late and the staff is also slow. A check up takes forever and most of the time is spent waiting.
And whilst waiting one can enjoy looking at the dirt — this is one filthy office. If you are scared of seeing dirt, do not look up t the ceiling fans, There is literally stuff hanging from them, and with stuff I mean brown dirt.
The chairs are dirty, the carpets are dirty, the walls are dirty, the office needs fumigating. Then again most Berkeley offices tend to be on the dirty side — maybe it is a hippie thing? Regardless, a doctor’s office should be a clean place.
Because of the excessive dirt here we will change offices.
But if you do not mind dirt, the staff is perfectly nice and seem perfectly competent. On the other hand, how competent is a doctor’s office that does not understand how germs and bacteria spread?
I actually saw one nurse handle a child’s urine sample (dipping stuff in it, tipping it, emptying it) without gloves and without washing her hands when she was done…

Doctors are good, but the wait is unbearable. I’ve never waited less then 30 minutes. Sometimes closer to an hour. Other complaint is that the building itself is dated and right next to McDonald’s.

It’s a very ‘Berkeley’ practice, and a great one at that. They’ll do house calls after a home birth. They don’t end each visit with a drug prescription. They speak to (not about) your child. They hand out a plain-​English ‘newborn notes’ sheet full of practical child-​rearing tips, and give a book to each toddler ready to be read to. The office is friendly and «small townish», in both the good and bad senses of that expectation. Don’t go looking here for brutal efficiency.
The name of the practice, by the way, is a portmanteau of Dr. Kittams. and Dr. Winoukur, who started it. It’s a small practice, so be prepared for an answering machine at night and on weekends (when, of course, your kid is most likely to be sick).

I love this practice. They’ve been caring for my 10 month old since his birth, and I’ve had nothing but good experiences with both the doctors and their staff. They’re friendly and approachable in a very «Berkeley» kind of way (ie, Birkenstocks, «would you like some tea?», «call me David», etc). However, they’re admirably open-​minded. Although they advocate breast feeding, attachment parenting, etc, they never really push an agenda and are more than happy to talk over anything. They are very non-​judgemental.
Also, they give your kid a book at every check-​up! Today we got «Go to Bed», which my Rudy boy loves (even if it isn’t something he does well himself). How cool is that?

We loved this practice, and are sad to be leaving.
Highlights of our almost 3 years of brining our first child to Kiwi:
— Getting a very calming call back from Dr. Winoukur in our first week as parents, explaining that it is perfectly normal for an infant to stop breathing periodically… who knew?
— Very very lengthy regular checkups with the doctors, who patiently helped us understand what on earth we should do with this baby the hospital sent us home with. Don’t they have a screening process for parents, or something?
— Getting the most reasonable advice on child-​safety devices I have ever heard. «There are things that can hurt your child, and things that can kill him… try to eliminate the things that can kill him.» Ultimately everyone has to learn that if you slam your finger in the door, it hurts.
— At our two year check-​up Dr. Salzburg off handedly gave us the best piece of guidance that we have yet to receive about child-​rearing, «two is a great age, if you have a lot of patience, and aren’t in a particular hurry to get anywhere».
— Provided plenty of ammunition to help explain to my overprotective mother, why my son’s ruptured ear-​drum was not my fault. And that it sounds worse than it really is. And that giving him anti-​biotics earlier, was not the answer.
Ultimately, this may not be the place for everyone. I don’t think my Mom was very happy with the place, but she may just not have been happy that I didn’t take him here more… it is hard to tell.
We loved it. Now that we are leaving the Bay Area, I feel comfortable recommending it, because you won’t be stealing our appointments.
Noah, by the way, is perfectly healthy and happy. He’s had all of his shots, and does not seem phased by his healed ruptured ear-​drum.