Drs. Anna Lincoln and Karyn Collins are celebrating the five year anniversary of Pediatric Junction, with the help of two families that have been with them since the beginning. (Left) Jennifer Gelsone’s three sons, Gus, Gregory and Gunnar, are patients of Dr. Lincoln, while (right) Jennifer Harper’s daughter Avery and sons Blake and Sean see Dr. Collins. (Photo by jen Biundo)

by JEN BIUNDO

In 2005, not long after Anna Lincoln and Karyn Collins opened their small pediatric practice in downtown Buda, friends Jennifer Gelsone and Jennifer Harper gave birth to baby boys within a few weeks of each other.

Gregory Gelsone and Blake Harper became two of the first newborn patients at the fledgling Pediatric Junction, and over the next five years, each boy became a big brother to two younger siblings.

This month, as the Pediatric Junction staff celebrates the clinic’s five year anniversary, they’re recognizing the two families that have been with them since the start.

The Gelsone and Harper families have grown along with the clinic, which now employs a staff of 18 and serves as a medical home for more than 3,000 young patients.

“It’s been really great to see their families grow,” Lincoln said. “I look forward to seeing these kids grow and graduate from high school.”

Lincoln and Collins met during their residency at Children’s Hospital of Austin, and bonded when they learned that they were both entering a challenging program as a wife and mother of young children – Collins has four children, while Lincoln is now a mother to three.

They also quickly discovered they shared similar philosophies about caring for their patients and empowering and educating their families.

“We were both very motivated to care for families over a long period of time and practice medicine in a strong family-focused practice,” Lincoln said.

The Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children have a “medical home” – not just a clinic they go to when they have strep throat or need stitches, but a medical practitioner who knows the child and family and can give advice on parenting, nutrition and development as well as illnesses.

“Their care is best provided by the doctor who knows their family really well,” Lincoln said.

The two physicians decided to open their own small medical clinic immediately after completing their residency, and opted to set up shop in Lincoln’s hometown of Buda, where she graduated as valedictorian from Hays High School. In a serendipitous twist, they picked out the name “Pediatric Junction” and then found the perfect office space on Railroad Street, in the former home of longtime general doctor Clay Lauderdale, who cared for Buda residents through the first half of the 20th century.

They were already doctors, but the two friends had to quickly learn to be small business owners.

“It’s challenging to balance those responsibilities, being a business owner, a boss, a mom and a doctor,” Lincoln said. “I love what I do. It takes a lot of energy, but the rewards are great.”

After a couple of years, as their medical practice was flourishing, the first bombshell dropped – Lincoln was diagnosed with breast cancer. Two years later, Collins received the same diagnosis.

“We both saw an outpouring of love and support from our patients,” Lincoln said. “Our patients brought us dinner, brought us cards.”

Both women quickly sought treatment and successfully battled their cancer.

This week, Collins and Lincoln will commemorate the five-year anniversary of Pediatric Junction by bringing on a nurse practitioner, Janie Anderson. Having a nurse practitioner on staff will help the clinic provide on-call, holiday and Saturday hours by a staff member.

After seven years as an RN at Dell Children’s Medical Center, Anderson earned her master’s of science in nursing as a pediatric nurse practitioner from the University of Texas at Austin last year. She volunteers with Operation Smile, a worldwide children’s medical charity that provides plastic surgery to patients with cleft lips and palates.