Ocean Pediatrics is opening two additional locations less than a year after its first office opened in Laguna Hills last October.
The newly formed general pediatric practice was started by Dr. Steven Abelowitz, who founded Southern California’s Coastal Kids Pediatrics in 1998.
The doctor said there’s need for physician-led practices with a “family feel” in the region, which is why they’re expanding.
“We noticed with practices becoming very corporate oriented a lot of dissatisfaction, and from our perspective, even compromised medical care,” Abelowitz told the Business Journal. “We’re going for the opposite.”
Part of that personalized patient experience that Ocean Pediatrics offers includes after-hours on-call providers and same-day sick and well visits.
Ocean Pediatrics has already opened its second location in Costa Mesa on Feb. 11 and will be opening a third in Ladera Ranch this month.
Costa Mesa Location Draw For New Moms
Ocean Pediatrics currently sees about 30 patients a day in Laguna Hills. It has patients as young as newborn children up to 22 year olds.
Most visits are for general pediatrics, Abelowitz said, including newborn care, wellness checkups and immunizations.
Its second office in Costa Mesa is in Back Bay Center, a shopping center with Irvine Ranch Market and Coffee Dose. There’s also New Mom School that provides parenting classes and a pediatric dentist called Tiny Tooth in the center that makes it a prime location for a pediatrics practice, Abelowitz said.
The Laguna Hills and Costa Mesa offices measure around 2,500 square feet each, while Ladera Ranch will be about 4,500 square feet.
Ocean Pediatrics’ expansion comes amid an especially challenging time to be in pediatrics, according to Abelowitz.
Besides pediatrics being among the lower paid specialties, he said there has been an increase in business expenses over the last five years due to insurance payments decreasing.
“That’s what probably led to so many practices selling off, retiring or closing their doors,” Abelowitz said.
Separating from Coastal Kids
Abelowitz said that he’s experienced corporate intervention himself.
He grew Coastal Kids to about 10 locations in Southern California, including seven in Orange County. He oversaw more than 100 physicians and 200 staff.
“We formed it into one of the most thriving pediatric practices in the region, maybe even the state,” he said.
Abelowitz was the sole owner at the time when he was approached during the pandemic by private equity groups Summit Partners LP and Pediatric Associates Holding LLC in a deal that “didn’t work out.”
“A lot of practices were in panic mode because COVID was extremely testing and frightening for us,” Abelowitz said.
After the two went their separate ways, his wife suggested that he retire and “go surf in Costa Rica,” but Abelowitz felt that his passion still lied in pediatrics.
He wasn’t planning on starting another practice until fellow doctors approached him with the idea.
Several physicians followed Abelowitz from Coastal Kids to Ocean Pediatrics, he said.
Abelowitz is the primary investor in Ocean Pediatrics but said that there are also partner physicians putting in their own investments because they believe in him and his 30-year track record.
Ocean Pediatrics will have 13 total physicians across its offices once the Ladera Ranch location opens.
In response to how many total locations he aims to have, Abelowitz said that he wants to keep the business more consolidated this time around.
While he said they’re not looking to expand past three locations for now, they would consider adding future locations depending on the need and the availability.
