Dear Dr. Rubin,

One of the burdens of your job must be to receive complaints and critiques regarding organizational problems and patient care concerns. Thankfully, this letter contains neither. Rather, we are writing to thank you for the excellent care our daughter has received from Drs. Ward and Irani in the pediatric immunology clinic, and the deep gratitude we feel for having access to the professional and caring staff at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU.

We have been impressed not only with the diagnostic and therapeutic skill of the clinical staff (we began with Dr. Irani and are now with Dr. Ward), but also with the obvious commitment to kindness and customer service from the physicians to the support staff. Often this pops up in the least expected encounters. Yesterday when departing the Medical Center after another day of testing, the kind gentlemen retrieving our car remembered us from previous visits, and specifically inquired as to how we were doing and wished us well. Further, that was after a truly amazing experience of warmth and compassion in the pulmonary function lab. The value of the kind of human connection we routinely experience at VCU cannot be underestimated.

We are both physicians, and as such represent a potential headache for providers caring for our daughter. We know both too much and not enough, struggle with relinquishing the clinician role ourselves, and can never have too much information. Dr. Ward and his staff have been remarkably and generously patient with us, promptly answering our many questions both in person and via email. With their patient guidance, we have now settled on a course of treatment and are hopeful that we can assist our daughter in successfully managing her illness.

Though we deal with illness every day professionally, finding ourselves on the other side of the stethoscope as advocates for our daughter has been a humbling and frightening experience. That said, were it not for the compassion and patience of your staff, it would have been far worse.

We hope you will take this opportunity to recognize the outstanding efforts of your staff and specifically Dr. Brant Ward. We are very lucky to have him on our side, and we will be recommending VCU care to any and all who will listen!

Sincerely,

Drs. Martin and Davis