Like most physicians, Dr. Ekta Khurana wears lab coats at work.

But unlike most physicians, her coats aren’t plain white. Instead, they’re embellished with everything from fairies to characters from the Harry Potter series and “The Jungle Book.”

Khurana is a pediatrician, and wearing coats with kid-friendly characters is one of the ways she tries to go the extra mile for her young patients. She loves the work, she said, and she and the other providers and staff of Columbia Basin Pediatrics in Pasco are preparing to move into a new space that will allow the practice to grow and offer more services.

New Richland clinic

The new building at 404 Westcliffe Blvd. in Richland is set to open on Oct. 28, with a grand opening on Oct. 31.

The practice had been at 9521 Sandifur Parkway, Suite 2, in Pasco for about 12 years. Khurana and her husband, Navjot, a dentist with a practice on Keene Road near the Westcliffe property, once owned the Pasco building, but then they sold it and leased the practice space.

Columbia Basin Pediatrics’ new building is about 4,000 square feet, with nine to 10 exam rooms and a procedure room.

Booth & Sons Construction in Kennewick was the general contractor. The project cost an estimated $1.5 million, according to building permit information.

Along with Khurana, Columbia Basin Pediatrics includes providers Michelle Crawford and Denise Philips, both nurse practitioners. Khurana said the hope is to add another provider in the future; she’d also like to bring on an in-house nutritionist.

Dr. Ekta Khurana stands in the entryway of Columbia Basin Pediatrics. The practice is moving from its longtime Pasco location to a new building in Richland in October 2024.

| Photo by Sara Schilling

Nutrition’s role

For her, nutrition is a passion, and it plays a significant role in physical and mental health.

“I think the conversation should start with nutrition. I always give the analogy of a tree. If you have a bad apple, you bring a doctor in and they say, ‘(Let’s put) medicine on the apple,’ and you might get some answers out of it. But until you attend to the roots – with fertilizer, sunshine, water and all those things – the apple is not going to (be healthy). My model of looking at the disease is looking at it that way – taking care of all the fundamentals of health,” she told the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business.

Khurana said she loves working with children because of their honesty and transparency.

“If they’re sick, you can see in their eyes. If they’re angry, they can show you. There’s no hiding and it’s very refreshing,” she said.

Khurana earned her medical degree from Guru Nanak Dev University in India and trained in Amritsar, India, and at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. She’s worked at Children’s Hospital in India and at the University of Pennsylvania as a research associate, and she’s board certified through the American Academy of Pediatrics, the practice website says.

She’s been practicing medicine in the Tri-Cities for about 18 years.

Columbia Basin Pediatrics has a staff of 11, including the providers. Medical students from Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences in Yakima also cycle through.

“I make it a point to get students in my practice because I want to give back,” Khurana said.

The practice also recently became certified in autism screening. It likely initially will limit screenings to existing patients and then expand based on demand and capacity.

For Khurana, medicine is a calling. “I think I was destined to do this,” she said, adding that she loves the Tri-Cities and is excited for the future of Columbia Basin Pediatrics.

“I’ve been here for so many years. It’s lovely,” she said. “The Tri-Cities have given us lot of love and that is very amazing.”