The Department of Pediatrics seeks to provide the highest possible quality of inpatient and outpatient care to infants, children, and adolescents.

Outpatient care

Approximately 10,000 children are seen each year through the Emergency Department of Huntington Hospital. Working collaboratively with Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Surgery, and Orthopaedics, the Department of Pediatrics plays a pivotal role in directing the care of sick children in the Emergency Department. Recognizing that the education of young physicians and the provision of high-quality clinical care are mutually reinforcing activities, the Department participates energetically in the training of North Shore University Hospital Pediatric Residents. In addition to directing the care of their own private patients, members of the attending staff rotate Emergency Department calls so that all children requiring pediatric care can receive the benefit of our most experienced pediatricians. Both sick children needing acute ambulatory care, and well children requiring health supervision/preventive care are seen collaboratively by resident and attending staff at the Dolan Family Health Center. Seeking to address the needs of the indigent and under insured, the physicians of Huntington Hospital's DFHC provide care of infants, children and adolescents regardless of financial means.

Inpatient care

Perinatal Services

Approximately 1,900 newborns are delivered at Huntington Hospital each year. The majority are cared for by the Pediatric Attending staff. To assist with the care of sick newborns, there is a continuously-staffed Neonatology service from the Division of Newborn Medicine at North Shore University Hospital. Attending and fellow level specialists in Neonatology manage a range of problems - from the Delivery Room to Huntington's Special Care Nursery, to discharge or transfer to the "well-baby" service - including prematurity, respiratory distress syndrome, neonatal infections, infants of diabetic mothers (IDM), hyperbilirubinemia, and others. Neonates who require prolonged high-acuity intensive care, surgical, or complex subspecialty care more efficiently delivered in the tertiary center may be transferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset. Both transfer to and return from the tertiary center are carried out with thoughtful consideration to continuity of care.

Pediatric inpatient services

Children with a variety of acute conditions are admitted for care on the Clark Gilles Pediatric Unit. Managed by the Pediatric Resident team with the supervision and guidance of the attending staff, this service seeks to provide the highest quality inpatient care in a community hospital setting. Here, children can receive treatment for a range of common problems under the care of their own familiar physician in a patient and parent-friendly atmosphere which minimizes the trauma of hospitalization, fosters continuity of care, and hastens recovery.

Subspecialty and surgical services

In addition to the specialists in Newborn Medicine described above, children cared for at Huntington may require consultation from other specialists with formal pediatric training. Currently, such consultation is available from staff members in Pediatric Neurology, Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Gastroenterology, Pediatric Hematology, Pediatric Surgery, Pediatric Neurosurgery, Pediatric Urology, and Pediatric Anesthesia.