April Bolser said her son Mason wasn’t happy with the doctor he saw after Dr. Justine Bunka was fired from Rambling Road Pediatrics in January.
"When he left he said 'I don't ever want to go back. I would like to see my normal doctor, Dr. Bunka," Bolser said.
She said the 9-year-old's reaction was quite different when she told him she'd scheduled his next appointment at Bunka's new clinic, Kalamazoo Pediatrics in Portage.
“He threw his hands up and said ‘yes.’ That's never happened," Bolser laughed.
Bolser said she plans to transfer all three of her children to the new practice. She said that's because Bunka and her colleague, Dr. Randall Dyk, "take the time and listen to what the parent and the child is saying and trying to find a solution instead of just pushing a medicine or pushing you out the door like you are a number."
Mason Bolser's appointment was on Aug. 12, the first day the clinic was open for patients. A steady stream of children and families kept Bunka and the staff busy.
Dyk wasn't there. He planned to start seeing patients this week.
Bunka said she and Dyk were fired from Bronson Healthcare on Jan. 29 after they questioned new policies that they believed would lower the quality of care.
Within a month of the doctors' termination, supporters had rallied. More than 4,000 signed an online petition demanding the doctors' reinstatement.
Bunka filed a wrongful termination claim with the National Labor Relations Board. And in June, a defamation suit against Bronson Healthcare.
In an emailed statement, the healthcare provider said it disagreed with the allegations in Bunka's defamation suit.
Bunka said the experience has given her time to consider what’s most important.
"It's been a really great time that I can reassess what I want to do in my own practice and how I practice medicine and make sure that I am able to do the things that are most important to me when I see my patients."
She added, “We want to be able to schedule patients for the time they need, be able to give them extra time if they need it, and make sure that we're not rushing people out."
Bunka said that means “we don't have a patient quota. We want to be sure that we can give the patients the time they need."
She said the doctors "want to eventually make money, of course, but it's not the most important thing.”
