Dr. Stephanie Jutta Israel, MD

I had the unfortunate experience of being assigned this doctor when my second child was sent to the NICU for breathing issues shortly after birth. Dr. Israel was unable to give me any concrete information as to why my child was struggling or what the steps towards discharge were. The one time she did come up to my room, she referred to my male child as "she" on multiple times, making me doubt if she was even talking to the right parent. When I asked her about the breathing issue, she attempted to give me an elementary school level explanation of the difference between breathing before and after birth. After that, I gave up trying to get information out of her. Getting my child discharged was a struggle, mainly because he wasn't eating enough at a feed for her. Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but it seems to me that if you feed a newborn every three hours and then force-feed them what they aren't hungry for, they aren't going to want the next meal. My child was not born underweight or… preterm and was not loosing weight at an abnormal rate, he just wasn't hungry on Dr. Israel's schedule. After my family got involved and started passing complaints up the chain of command, the NICU staff decided we were more trouble than we were worth and let my child leave. I wish I could stay that was the end of my interactions with Dr. Israel, but a month later I began to receive truly outrageous bills for my child's care from a provider outside of Huntsville Hospital when he was born. As it turns out, Dr. Israel is not an employee of HH. After seeing the way she treats patients, I understand why. The phone number on the bill lead me to a call center where nobody could tell me how they came up with nearly 5 figure total. In short, Dr. Israel will provide Google search level care for premium prices. Avoid, avoid, avoid!

Dr. Stephanie Israel is a pediatrician (with an interest in cardiology; see her publication) married to a pediatric cardiologist whose father-in-law is a pediatric cardiologist... starting to get the picture? It is very clear from the abysmally poor communications we've had with Dr. Israel that she is not a doctor because she cares about the children or their parents. It is a family business for these people (and a lucrative one at that). Dr. Israel acts as a pediatrician in the Huntsville Hospital's NICU center. Her approach is largely textbook based, attempting to quote mathematical formulas to engineers as to why their otherwise perfectly healthy children are not allowed to leave the NICU. I have not only had other children before, I have had other children in the NICU. Let me rephrase that. I have not only had other children in the NICU, I've had other children in other NICU's. In comparison, Dr. Israel's care for the well being of her patients, including an attention to the… bond children grow with their parents early on, as well as her ability to effectively communicate with parents is pathetically incompetent. I would ask Dr. Israel to seriously consider why she became a pediatrician if she has such little regard for the parents of the patients, the people whom she interfaces with the most. I would also beg that she use more than numeric formulas, namely conventional wisdom, when administering care to her patients. If at all possible, steer clear of this doctor.