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Many people don’t have happy memories of going to the doctor as a child, except maybe that piece of candy after the visit, but for one grown woman, making new memories at the same doctor’s office she went to as a child has been her job for the last 18 years.
“I came here when I was a kid,” said Dr. Shelia Pitre, current owner of Children’s Clinic in Thibodaux. “Dr. (Mike) Smith and Dr. (Ernest) Hansen both treated me as a child, and they also treated other members of my family.”
More than six decades after the clinic, originally called the Smith Children’s Clinic, opened, Pitre still hands out candy to her patients after a visit, and, as owner of the business, Pitre enjoys being able to do things her way.
“I joined the practice in 1995, and I became the sole owner in 2007,” she said. “It used to be a ‘y’all’ business, but now it’s just a ‘me’ business. I like running my own business. I make the work decisions and take advantage of all my hard work. I like things my way, and it’s great when you can run a business the way you want it to be.”
“In today’s economy, it’s nice to own my own place, run a successful practice and help patients and the people I employ,” Pitre added. “I love being part of people’s families and being here to watch the kids grow.”
As leader of her six-person staff – two registered nurses, one medical technician, one medical assistant and two receptionists – Pitre works hard to live up to the high standard of children’s healthcare set forth when the late Dr. Smith opened the clinic in 1948.
“Our main emphasis is quality care, not quantity,” she said. “We do everything, from pediatrics and preemie care to treating kids with cancer or behavior things like ADHD for patients up to age 18. I normally see about 40 patients a day, but it can get up to 60 a day during the winter and cold and flu season.”
In addition to providing wellness care and treating chemotherapy and behavioral issues, the clinic also conducts minor surgical procedures and suturing, cryosurgery (the use of extreme cold to remove things like warts, moles, skin tags) and vision and hearing screenings.
Pitre also keeps up with the history of the clinic by conducting all of her practice’s services in the clinic’s original building, which has been expanded over the years.
“The clinic even used to do the lab work for St. Joseph Hospital, now Thibodaux Regional Medical Center, and we still do our own lab work here,” Pitre said.
Even though the practice’s original owner has been gone for many years, one of his employees still continues to uphold his legacy three decades after she joined the clinic.
“Registered nurse Joy Lindley has been here 33 years,” Pitre said. “She has a tremendous loyalty to practice, and she likes working and taking care of patients and hopefully likes working with me. There’s not much turnover here with employees.”
“It’s a great work environment, and I love looking after the children,” Lindley said. “It’s rewarding, knowing that you are helping others, and Shelia works hard to keep up with the latest medical advances and changes in healthcare. She attends seminars and passes the information along to all of her workers and stays up with the latest insurance changes.”
Even though Lindley only works part-time these days, she still does one-on-one patient care, issues immunizations, makes sure all the clinic’s patients are up to date on shots and helps Pitre when she needs assistance.
Having worked for the original owner and the current owner, Lindley knows what has kept and continues to keep the clinic going after all these years.
“Patient loyalty,” Lindley said. “Our doctors are available 24/7 through our answering service, and that is a big deal to our patients.”
The Children’s Clinic in Thibodaux has been in business since 1965, and the clinic is currently owned by Dr. Shelia Pitre. Pitre and her staff of six uphold original owner Dr. Mike Smith’s standard of quality not quantity care. One of the clinic’s employee’s has been with practice for 33 years.
