Sharon Pediatrics to shut doors

SHARON — One of the most recognizable names in pediatric health care in Northwest Connecticut and the Harlem Valley will disappear in six weeks.

Sharon Pediatrics, which has existed in one form or another since 1985, will shut its doors on Aug. 1 when its lone remaining pediatrician, Dr. Tomas Tomanek, leaves to practice out of state.

Tomanek’s departure is the culmination of a steady erosion of Sharon Pediatrics’ medical staff in recent years.

Tomanek did not return a message seeking comment, but in a June 9 letter to parents of his patients, he said, “Over the last two years I have been unsuccessful in recruiting another permanent pediatrician to the practice and the stress of a solo practice is not one that I wish to endure for the next 10 or 15 years.�

Finding a replacement

Sharon Hospital will be assuming custodianship of the patient records after Tomanek leaves but he urged parents to contact his office if they would like their children’s records transferred to another pediatrician. Tomanek added that Sharon Hospital is working actively to recruit another pediatrician to take his place.

Meanwhile, Sharon Hospital, which is not buying Tomanek’s practice, has recruited another physician, Dr. Marc D. Legris, a physician certified in internal and pediatric medicine.

Beginning July 1, Legris will practice elsewhere in the Medical Arts  building on Hospital Hill Road but not in the sground floor of that building, where Sharon Pediatrics had rented space from the hospital.

Sharon Pediatrics is an independent group with no formal financial or legal connection to the hospital across the street.

Still, hospital officials have said they consider it important to have a strong pediatrics practice that supports the hospital.

“I think people will love him,� Sharon Hospital spokesperson Jill Musselman said of Legris.

Legris, formerly of Housatonic Internal Medicine & Pediatrics in New Milford, is a friend and professional acquaintance of Dr. Virginia Gray-Clarke and has covered for her before. Gray-Clarke left Sharon Pediatrics last year to start her own practice elsewhere in Sharon.

As recently as 2005, there were four physicians at Sharon Pediatrics: Tomanek, Gray-Clarke, Catherine Leidigh and Malcolm Brown. Leidigh retired last year, as did Brown in 2005, before he became first selectman of the town of Sharon.

Tomanek joined Sharon Pediatrics with Brown when it opened in 1985 after the dissolution of the old Sharon Clinic. He became a partner two years later.

“It’s very easy to understand Tom’s position,� Brown said in an interview. “He’s 50 and that’s a difficult time to have a solo practice and try to recruit another pediatrician.�

As a member of a much larger group practice, Tomanek will likely have an established on-call schedule with fewer nights and weekends than he currently works. Brown, who said he was saddened to see the practice close, nonetheless had high praise for Tomanek’s quick diagnostic skills and his composure under pressure during emergency situations such as starting IVs and cardiac resuscitation.

“Plus, he had a great sense of humor,� Brown added.

Tomanek’s office was always a lively place, full of stuffed animals, puppets and toys. But his office will fall silent at the end of July. “So my dinosaurs and I will be relocating to New Hampshire to join a group practice,� Tomanek wrote in his final letter.