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Welcome to The Carithers Pediatric Group, where
you'll find health care professionals and staff
dedicated to providing you with the highest level
of quality care... personal, considerate,
sensitive, and knowledgeable. Our highest priority
is you. Your comfort. Your well-being. Your total
health.
We want to bring you the
best in health care services. One way we do that
is by offering you, our patient, this Web site to
get to know us better and access health services
and information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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 Drs.
Hugh and Connie Carithers founded our group in
1941. Since that time, the practice has been
located in the Riverside section of town, serving
the children of Jacksonville, North Florida and
South Georgia. Both husband and wife took it upon
themselves to provide excellent care for children
locally and to improve the standards for
practicing pediatrics both at the state and
national level. Dr. Hugh did much of the original
research on Cat Scratch Disease and was an
examiner for the American Board of Pediatrics and
Vice President of the American Academy of
Pediatrics. Dr. Connie worked tirelessly to
develop local and national standards for day care
centers and was a pioneer in adolescent medicine.
Dr.
Robert Threlkel joined Dr. Hugh and Dr. Connie
in 1971. He rapidly followed their example in
assuming a leadership role to improve the quality
of care for children in the Jacksonville area,
through patient care as well as serving on various
hospital committees and medical organizations. Dr.
Threlkel has taken an active role in the American
Academy of Pediatrics and was an examiner for the
American Board of Pediatrics. He is currently on
the Board of Trustees for Wolfson Children's
Hospital.
During the next fifteen
years, the practice showed steady growth. Dr.
Robert Colyer, who grew up in the practice
under the care of Drs. Hugh and Connie, joined the
group in 1977. Dr. Julie
Baker became a member of the group in 1983.
Both of these physicians entered into leadership
positions in the community as well. Dr. Colyer has
done exemplary work with The Ronald McDonald
House, the Youth Crisis Center and the Florida
Pediatric Society, and is currently Chief of Staff
for Wolfson Children's Hospital. Dr. Baker
volunteers much of her time for the Children's
Home Society.
During the 1980's the group
saw other changes. Dr. Connie had to cut back on
her hours as she valiantly fought Malignant
Melanoma, from which she died in 1988. Dr. Paul
Robinson was with the practice from 1987- 1994,
when he left to pursue a career in Adolescent
Medicine at the University of Missouri. Dr. Hugh
retired from the practice of medicine in 1989. As
Jacksonville grew and the needs of its children
became more complex, our physicians wanted to have
a place to practice in which they could better
serve those needs. They therefore built the current
office at 2121 Park Street, which opened in
1987.
Dr.
James Cheek joined the practice in 1990. He
has followed the example of his senior partners in
community service and currently serves on the
Board of Directors of The Bridge of Northeast
Florida and is Chief of Pediatrics at St.
Vincent's Medical Center. The physicians hired a
full-time office manager, Marie Louvier, in 1993,
to deal with the rapid change of medical practice,
including the advent of managed care. Following
the departure of Dr. Robinson,
Dr. Wendy Sapolsky, who went to high school in
Jacksonville, returned to the community and joined
the group in 1995.
 In 1997, the practice continued to grow with the addition of Dr. Kim Dal Porto and Dr. Raoul Sanchez, who had finished their residencies at UAB. Dr. Dal Parto, also a Jacksonville native, had spent a winter working with Dr. Bakers as a college student, inspiring her to pursue pediatrics with the same passion she saw exemplified in the practice. Dr. Raoul Sanchez grew up in Miami and brought rich diversity to the group with his Spanish culture and speaking.
In 1998, Dr.
Amy Hardman also became a member of the group
following her Pediatric Residency and a year-long
fellowship in Pediatric Cardiology. This brought
the number of active physicians in the group to
eight.
In October 2002 Dr.Thomas Connolly joined the group afterfinishing his military commitment. He also has roots in Jacksonville -- family, high school, and college. In October 2003 Dr. Anne Egan joined the practice after working for a private practice in Pittsburgh, PA. She, too, was a former patient of the practice as a child.
The practice finished the
1990's with two major changes. First, to better
serve families in the most rapidly growing parts
of Jacksonville, the group opened a second
office in the Southside area in April 1999.
Second, and most important, the current physicians
decided to honor Drs. Hugh and Connie Carithers in
appreciation for their hard work for the children
of Jacksonville by naming our practice The
Carithers Pediatric Group. As we face the
challenges of the new century, the current members
of The Carithers Pediatric Group will always
remember the legacy of Dr. Hugh and Dr. Connie and
try to emulate their selfless devotion to their
patients as well as their steadfast leadership in
the community.
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