After decades on the job, Dr. Perriello calls it quits

For 37 years, Dr. Vito Perriello spent his days working with kids and his spare time playing with kids.

This week he locked the office doors for the last time so he could start playing more with his family.

The last of the original partners who formed Pediatric Associates of Charlottesville back in 1971, Dr. Perriello has treated three generations of Central Virginians, coached two generations of middle and high school students, worked with attention deficit disorder organizations and raised a congressman-elect; his son Tom Perriello recently beat incumbent Republican Virgil H. Goode Jr. for Virginia’s 5th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The good doctor has also served on numerous professional boards and high school athletics committees, studied adolescent head injuries, played tenor saxophone in the Municipal Band of Charlottesville and basically enjoyed himself helping others. He’s leaving now simply because it’s time.

“In any practice you can get to a point where it’s hard to keep up, to keep your edge and provide the highest quality treatment and care,” Dr. Perriello, 67, said. “It’s good to go out when you’re on top, when you’re still performing well. Many people don’t have that opportunity.”

More to it than that

It’s not that simple, the good doctor’s family says. His dedication to the profession convinced him to forego retirement until recently. The change may be because his daughter, Paige, has joined the practice.

“We’ve talked about it a couple of times but I think he’s kind of at peace with retiring now, knowing that he’ll still be connected through his daughter,” said Linda Perriello, his wife. “It will be difficult for him, but Paige is here and it’s more like passing on the tradition than just leaving. The two things he’s cared about most in his life are his family and his profession.”

For a short time, the two have overlapped at the office.

“It’s been great having a chance to work with him, but I’ve been sort of dreading the day he retires,” said Dr. Paige Perriello, who joined the practice in July. “He’s earned it and I’m excited to be able to see two or three generations of people my father has helped. Being able to see children and parents and maybe even some grandparents who have been his patients, is really exciting.”

On the trail

His family and profession also overlapped during the election. Dr. Perriello took some time to campaign for his son and was surprised, if not delighted, to hear from people he helped over the years.

“I got to talk to a lot of people and I realized that I really did have a positive influence on people’s lives over all these years,” Dr. Perriello said. “It’s also great to see how good medicine has become, how many diseases we better understand, how many vaccines we’ve developed. I’m not saying that there aren’t issues with the way service is provided or delivery methods, but medicine has come a long way and it’s done a lot of good.”

Although he’s looking forward to spending time with his family, his saxophone and a few other scattered hobbies, Dr. Perriello admits that he will miss dispensing medicine.

“I know I’ll miss it,” he said. “I’ll miss the people, my patients and colleagues and staff and I’ll miss the feeling of coming into a room full of people and believing that I may be able to help someone feel better.”