Dr. Rene Salhab trained as a pediatric medical services provider in New York. Since 2010, he has served the Rancho Cucamonga, California, community as a pediatrician at Children’s Choice Pediatrics. In this position, Dr. Rene Salhab provides expert care to newborns, children, and young adults up to age 21, with an emphasis on lifestyle and preventive care practices that support long-term health.
During his time at Children’s Choice Pediatrics, Dr. Rene Salhab has provided his patients with a range of medical services, including preoperative clearance exams, treatment for acute and chronic illnesses, school physicals, wellness exams, Autism spectrum evaluations, and more. Furthermore, he maintains relationships with local facilities to provide his patients with inpatient hospital care as needed. He has experience with eczema, learning disabilities and behavioral issues, and a myriad of common injuries, among many other conditions and health issues. However, he is also capable of providing families with referrals when necessary.
Moreover, Dr. Salhab adheres to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines for vaccines and immunizations, while also respecting individual parental decisions. Throughout his career, he has established a reputation for developing collaborative family partnerships that support thoughtful medical decision-making.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
My day begins early with a focus on preparation and prioritization, ensuring that urgent cases and telehealth requests are addressed before the clinic opens to the public. I maintain productivity by strictly delegating administrative tasks to my capable team, which allows me to dedicate my full attention to patient care, complex medical decisions, and mentoring my staff throughout the day. This structured approach ensures that every child receives timely, compassionate care while keeping our operations running efficiently to serve the community’s needs.
d before the clinic opens to the public. I maintain productivity by strictly delegating administrative tasks to my capable team, which allows me to dedicate my full attention to patient care, complex medical decisions, and mentoring my staff throughout the day. This structured approach ensures that every child receives timely, compassionate care while keeping our operations running eff
How do you bring ideas to life?
I bring ideas to life by first identifying a genuine gap in care—such as a lack of accessible pediatric services—and then immediately mobilizing a team and resources to build a solution that prioritizes the child’s well-being above all else. Whether it is launching 24/7 telehealth or creating a practice that accepts all patients regardless of insurance, I focus on actionable steps and unwavering commitment to our mission, turning the vision of equitable healthcare into a daily reality for thousands of families.
What’s one trend that excites you?
The trend that excites me most is the rapid advancement and adoption of AI-driven diagnostic tools in pediatric care, which promise to drastically reduce misdiagnosis rates and enable earlier interventions for developmental delays and rare conditions. By integrating these technologies with our existing telehealth platforms, we can provide expert-level assessments to children in remote or underserved areas, effectively democratizing access to top-tier medical expertise regardless of a family’s location or socioeconomic status. This fusion of technology and compassion represents the future of healthcare, where no child is left behind due to geographical or financial barriers.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
I maintain a strict “patient-first” prioritization system where every morning is dedicated to reviewing urgent cases and telehealth requests before anything else, ensuring that critical needs are met immediately. This habit, combined with delegating operational tasks to my trusted team, allows me to focus entirely on medical leadership and direct patient care, which is where I can make the most significant impact. By protecting this time and structure, I ensure that our practice remains responsive to the community while maintaining the highest standards of care.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I would tell my younger self to trust the vision even when the path isn’t clear, because the obstacles you face while trying to help others are often the very things that will strengthen your resolve and define your purpose. Don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo or to build something entirely new when the existing system fails the people you are called to serve. Your greatest achievements will come from staying true to your commitment to care for every child, regardless of their circumstances.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
I believe that the traditional model of pediatric care, which requires appointments and adheres to strict office hours, is fundamentally broken and does a disservice to children and families in crisis. Almost everyone in the medical industry accepts this as the standard, but I argue that true healthcare means being available 24/7, regardless of a family’s ability to pay or their insurance status, because a child’s health emergency doesn’t wait for business hours. This belief drove me to build a practice that prioritizes immediate access and care for all over profits and convention, even when others said it was unsustainable.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
I consistently prioritize and advocate for preventive care through regular well-child visits and developmental milestone tracking because early detection and intervention are the most powerful tools we have to ensure a child’s long-term health and success. I recommend every parent establish a relationship with a pediatric provider from birth and maintain that connection through consistent check-ups, even when their child appears healthy, as this proactive approach prevents serious issues and builds a foundation for lifelong wellness. This isn’t just medical advice—it’s a commitment to giving every child the best possible start in life.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
When I feel overwhelmed, I immediately step back and reconnect with my core mission: the well-being of the children we serve. I take a moment to prioritize tasks based on urgency and impact, delegate effectively to my trusted team, and focus on one patient, one family, one solution at a time. This grounding in purpose and structured action helps me regain clarity and continue providing the care our community relies on.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
The single most impactful strategy has been building a business model centered on accessibility and trust rather than profit margins. By committing to accept all patients regardless of their insurance status and providing 24/7 telehealth, we removed the barriers that typically prevent families from seeking care, which naturally led to the growth of word-of-mouth and community trust that no marketing campaign could buy. This approach transformed our practice into a community resource rather than just a business, creating a loyal patient base that values our commitment to their children’s well-being above all else.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
We decided early on to take every patient who walked through the door, no matter their insurance situation or whether they could pay. On paper that looked like a bad idea, and honestly there were months where it felt like one. But something happened that we didn’t expect. Those patients became the most loyal people we’ve ever served. They told their families, their coworkers, their neighbors. They showed up for us because we showed up for them first.
When you take care of the people nobody else wants to take care of, you build a kind of trust that a competitor can’t just buy or copy. Ultimately, it creates a loyal community that refers others and supports your mission, making the business more sustainable. This approach works in any industry: Identify who is being underserved or excluded, and build your business around serving them exceptionally well.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
I rely heavily on secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth and practice management platforms that integrate patient scheduling, electronic health records, and virtual care into a single system. By centralizing these critical functions, I can efficiently manage patient care, review medical histories, and conduct virtual visits from any location, ensuring that administrative burdens never interfere with my ability to serve children in need. This integration is essential for maintaining both productivity and the highest standards of patient privacy and care coordination.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
The best $100 I recently spent was on purchasing educational materials and toys for our clinic’s waiting area, specifically designed for children with developmental delays. This investment helps create a more inclusive and supportive environment for all of our young patients, while also providing valuable resources for parents to learn about developmental milestones. It’s a small cost that significantly enhances our ability to serve the community’s needs beyond just medical treatment.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
I don’t rely on a specific book or podcast for my work, as the most valuable lessons come directly from listening to the families we serve and adapting to their real-world challenges. However, I find immense value in medical journals and public health reports that focus on pediatric disparities, as they provide the data-driven insights needed to advocate for policy changes and resource allocation for underserved communities. My “favorite” resource is the feedback from our patients and their families, which constantly guides how we improve our services to better meet their needs.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
I don’t typically have time for movies or series, as my focus is on my practice and the well-being of my patients. However, I did recently watch a documentary on the global impact of infectious diseases, which reinforced the critical importance of public health infrastructure and vaccination programs. It was a powerful reminder of why our work in providing accessible care and education to every family is so vital to protecting our communities.
Key learnings
- Prioritizing accessibility over profit margins can create stronger community trust and support more sustainable business growth than traditional models.
- Building healthcare systems around serving the most vulnerable populations removes barriers that prevent families from seeking timely care.
- Sustainable growth in healthcare requires establishing robust support teams and operational infrastructure before expanding your services.
- Integrating technology like telehealth platforms can maintain care quality while removing geographical and financial barriers to treatment.
- Early intervention through regular well-child visits and developmental monitoring prevents more serious health issues and reduces long-term healthcare costs.