Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan Salazar, PA-C.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My path into healthcare has always been rooted in service and working with children. While studying pre-med in college, I spent significant time volunteering and coaching with the Special Olympics, which deepened my passion for supporting children and individuals who needed extra care, patience, and advocacy. After graduating, I felt called to continue that work by serving in education with underserved populations. I became a special education teacher through an AmeriCorps program, where I quickly fell in love with supporting children who required an added level of compassion and individualized care. That experience helped shape the way I view connection in healthcare and it ultimately confirmed that I wanted to serve children and families in a medical setting.
After completing my AmeriCorps service, I went on to physician assistant school, where I was drawn to both pediatric and emergency medicine. I began working in pediatric emergency care and later added family urgent care to build a well-rounded clinical background, caring for patients of all ages and medical needs. During this time in clinical practice, I was also fortunate to participate in medical mission work in the Dominican Republic. These experiences reinforced the importance of meeting people where they are, practicing medicine with humility, and delivering care that is adaptable, compassionate, and centered on the individual. But most of all creating an experience that felt safe, comforting and human for children and families during some of their most vulnerable moments.
Early in my medical career, my wife and I became parents to a child with special medical needs. Navigating frequent appointments, long waits, and fragmented care firsthand opened our eyes to how impersonal healthcare can often feel. My wife, Courtney, who is also an educator, became deeply passionate about healthcare advocacy and empowering families through education. Together, we kept coming back to the same realization that families deserve a more personal experience, better communication, and better continuity of care that fits into real life.
For years, we talked about creating something different for families. In 2024, we finally decided to take the leap and bring Care On Call Pediatrics to life. Courtney left her role in education to step into the position of Director of Patient Care, allowing us to fully build this vision together. Our goal was simple but powerful: bring back the house call and make healthcare a more personalized experience. We wanted to create a model where providers feel like trusted neighbors, where care fits into real family life, and where parents don’t have to choose between quality care and convenience.
Today, Care On Call Pediatrics allows us to meet families where they are, literally. We provide in-home visits and telehealth services, care for multiple family members in a single visit, spend meaningful time with our patients, and stay connected throughout the recovery process. To me, Care On Call Pediatrics represents what (I believe) healthcare was always meant to be: personal, relationship-driven, and centered on the families we serve.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not always been a smooth road, but every challenge along the way has reinforced why we started Care On Call Pediatrics in the first place. Launching any business comes with risk, but starting a medical practice adds an extra layer of complexity with licensing, compliance, compliance requirements, logistics, and operations. There were many moments that required long nights, tough decisions, lots of research and guidance, and stepping far outside of our comfort zone. But I believed so strongly in this model of care and the gap it could fill for families that the risk felt worth taking.
One of our biggest strengths has been working as a team. My wife, Courtney, brought the business and operational expertise that allowed us to get Care On Call Pediatrics off the ground. While she focused on building systems, partnerships, and operations, I was able to focus on what I do best, which is patient care and designing a care model centered around connection, accessibility, and quality. We were also incredibly fortunate to have the guidance of our medical director, Dr. Elizabeth Marquez, who had already successfully launched a concierge practice herself. Her mentorship, experience, and support have been invaluable to our practice.
As the word spread about Care On Call and demand quickly grew, we faced the challenge of scaling while ensuring that we maintain the level of personalized care and connection that defines our practice. We were grateful to bring on Larissa Frauenheim, DNP, FNP-BC, a provider I worked alongside for many years in the pediatric emergency department. From the beginning of our careers, we shared the same philosophy around compassionate healthcare and building trust with patients. She fit seamlessly into our team and helped us meet growing demand while preserving the culture and quality of care we value so deeply.
With this growth, we were able to expand our reach in our own community of Nocatee and Ponte Vedra and also into Jacksonville Beach, St. Augustine, St. Johns, and parts of Duval and Flagler County. As interest continued to grow across the state, we also expanded our telehealth services statewide across Florida.
While the path hasn’t always been easy, every obstacle has helped shape Care On Call Pediatrics into a stronger, more intentional practice, and we’re excited to continue learning and growing in a way that stays true to our mission of bringing comfortable, high-quality, healthcare to families in their own homes.
We’ve been impressed with Care On Call Pediatrics, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Care On Call Pediatrics is a pediatric and family house call practice, which means we bring healthcare directly to our patients’ homes when they need us most. Our model is rooted in a style of medicine that was common years ago, when providers knew their patients personally and families were treated like neighbors, not numbers on a chart. Our mission is to bring back the house call and make healthcare personal again.
We specialize in pediatric and family urgent care, along with wellness visits, newborn care, sick visits, and telehealth services. We’re open seven days a week and offer same-day and next-day appointments so families don’t have to wait days for care or spend hours sitting in crowded waiting rooms. One of the things families appreciate most is that we can care for multiple household members during a single visit, whether that’s siblings or parents, making healthcare more efficient and far less stressful.
What truly sets us apart is the way we provide care. We take time with our patients. We focus on connection, education, addressing the root cause, overall wellness and comfort. We treat everything from colds, flu, strep, rashes, ear infections, and stomach issues and more, to minor injuries that may require stitches or glue, all within the comfort and familiarity of home. We also don’t require families to commit to a membership to use our urgent care services. Many of our patients already have a pediatrician they love, and we’re honored to be a trusted option when families need convenient, same-day care. For those who choose to use us as their direct primary care provider, we do offer membership options as well.
From a brand perspective, what I’m most proud of is the trust our community has placed in us. After just one year of serving families, we were incredibly honored to be named Best of the Best for Pediatrics in Ponte Vedra by the Ponte Vedra Recorder. That recognition meant so much to us because it reflected what we care about most, creating a healthcare experience that feels personal, compassionate, and centered on families.
What I want readers to know is that Care On Call Pediatrics isn’t just about convenience. It’s about restoring the human side of healthcare. It’s about showing up for families in the moments they need support the most, building real relationships, and delivering high-quality care in a way that fits real life. We feel grateful every day to serve this community and to be welcomed into so many homes, and we’re excited to continue growing while staying true to the values that started it all.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Starting Care On Call Pediatrics absolutely involved taking risks. Any time you step away from a traditional career path to build something new, especially in healthcare, there is uncertainty involved. But for me, risk has never been about chasing something flashy or fast. It’s about having conviction in a vision and being willing to step forward when you truly believe something needs to exist.
Investing our time, finances, and energy into building Care On Call Pediatrics was a major leap of faith for our family. There were moments of uncertainty, long nights, and plenty of learning along the way. But we felt strongly that families deserved a more personal model of care, and that belief made the risk feel purposeful.
I’ve learned that most meaningful things in life come with some level of discomfort and uncertainty. Anything worth building requires trust, patience, and the willingness to take calculated risks. For us, this wasn’t just a business decision, it was a values decision.
Ultimately, I believe risk is worth taking when it aligns with who you are and what you’re trying to build. For my family, the risk of starting Care On Call Pediatrics was worth it because it allowed us to create something that truly serves families in the way we always hoped healthcare could.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.careoncallpediatrics.com
- Instagram: @careoncallpediatrics
- Facebook: @careoncallpediatrics
