December, 2018

Dear Families,

For more than forty years it has been my privilege and joy to help care for several generations of children and their families. Each day in the office I am blessed to help with the care of children whose parents I cared for when they were children. What a rare and wonderful experience that has been!

At the end of this year I will retire from active practice. I will stay close to Hales Pediatrics and help our doctors and staff in every way I can, but it is time to do that as an advisor and not as a practitioner.

Hales Pediatrics has grown a great deal over the past forty years. After almost twenty years as a solo practice we have added wonderful pediatricians to provide excellent care for many more families.

I could not step away from our practice if I did not have complete confidence in the doctors who will continue to care for your children at Hales Pediatrics. They are not just excellent pediatricians — they are wonderful parents and spouses and treasured friends.

The other day a child asked me how many shots I have given. I told her I didn’t know if I could count that high, but the time is here to stop adding to the number.

Thank you for trusting us with your children’s care. I know that Drs. Oates, Milvid, Gorman, Haydel and Thomas (and our wonderful staff) will continue to provide superb care for all of our families for many years to come.

With thanks and best wishes,


Stephen W. Hales, M.D.
Hales Pediatrics