Hello Patients and Families of Westwood-Mansfield Pediatrics,
We hope you are all enjoying the relaxed pace and long days that summer offers. With fall around the corner, we wanted to take a moment to provide a State of the Practice. Please read below for a discussion about our updated office hours as well as an introduction to some of our new providers.
As our practice has grown over the last few years, we have worked hard to accommodate the influx of new patients and to offer enough office visits to care for everyone. Moving to our new and improved (and enlarged) Mansfield office building gives us the space to house more providers and, therefore, have more visit availability. We have already added two new Nurse Practitioners this spring and are excited to report that we will be adding three new physicians and a behavior health clinician in the coming months (see below for bios).
Change in Office Hours
In addition to adding new providers for our patients, we have made the decision to update our office hours in an attempt to create more afternoon and evening availability.
Starting in September, both the Westwood and the Mansfield offices will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Mondays-Thursdays and 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Fridays. Easton hours will remain 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday – Thursday and change to 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Fridays. Weekend and holiday hours will remain the same.
While this change shortens our late evening hours, the shift in providers' schedules will significantly increase the availability of visits in the afternoons and early evenings, our most sought-after times. We also hope that having two offices stay open later each day should be more convenient for our patients and families. Additionally, by opening earlier, we will also provide extra sick visit availability at the start of the day.
While we have tried to keep the disruption to a minimum, with this change in operating hours we will have to reschedule a small number of visits. We will be reaching out to the patients who are affected in the next few weeks. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience but hope that this change ultimately provides more access to our providers.
Introducing our New Providers
Dr. Soumya Rajupet
Dr. Rajupet is a Pittsburgh, PA native. She earned a degree in Nutritional Biochemistry and Metabolism from Case Western Reserve University in 2016. She went on to graduate from St. George’s University School of Medicine in 2021 and completed her pediatric residency training from Bernard & Millie Duker Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center in 2024. Outside of work Dr. Rajupet enjoys painting, hiking, indoor planting and is a proud cat parent of 3. Dr. Rajupet is excited to join the Westwood-Mansfield Pediatrics team and serve its wonderful community!
Dr. Jim Sharer
Dr. Sharer grew up in Downingtown, Pennsylvania and attended Penn State University for college. He has spent the last 7 years completing medical school and pediatric residency in the Philadelphia area. It should come as no surprise that Jim is a massive Philly sports fan (Go Birds!) and Penn State football fan. In his free time, Dr. Sharer enjoys playing golf, skiing, watching sports, and spending time with his fiancée. They are getting a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy in the next couple of months, so he is looking forward to being a dog dad. At work, he enjoys working with children of all ages and loves to talk about preventative healthcare. He is excited to join the community and begin a new chapter in New England.
Dr. Naveed Rabbani
Dr. Naveed Rabbani was born and raised in Rochester, NY. He earned his Medical Degree from Harvard Medical School and undergraduate from Stanford University. As a pediatrician, he values listening closely to his patients and working together with families to help them achieve their health goals. In addition to clinical practice, Dr. Rabbani serves as the Director of Clinical Informatics for the Pediatric Physicians’ Organization at Children’s, the primary care network to which Westwood-Mansfield Pediatrics belongs. He is also a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, where he teaches and performs research in topics relating to medical technology. In his free time, Dr. Rabbani enjoys reading, baking, guitar, and spending time with his wife and son exploring the beautiful New England area.
Nurse Practitioner Jillian Demaray
Jillian began her career in nursing after receiving her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Curry College in 2020. Jillian worked as a pediatric home health nurse with several medically complex children for two years before joining Westwood-Mansfield Pediatrics as an RN. Her passion for pediatric primary care led her to pursue advanced education, earning a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree in 2023. Jillian enjoys traveling, music and dancing to Taylor Swift. She is passionate about teen health and female empowerment. She is a board-certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and is excited to continue to meet new and familiar faces of the WMPeds community.
Behavioral Health Clinician Crystal Hunter
Crystal is a highly experienced Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) with over a decade of experience in diverse settings including academic institutions, public health, and the judicial system. She received a Master of Science in Mental Health Community Counseling from the University of Rochester in 2011. As a dedicated clinician, Crystal has extensive expertise in working with patients experiencing trauma, general anxiety, depression, and behavioral concerns with a particular expertise in developing and managing IEPs and 504 plans. In her spare time, Crystal enjoys immersing herself in new fiction and savoring the outdoors during New England summers. She looks forward to collaborating with the families of Westwood-Mansfield Pediatrics Association to deliver comprehensive, integrated behavioral health services.
We look forward to welcoming the above into our WMPEDS Family and to having a great fall!