Appointments

This practice provides care for children from birth through age 21.

All office visits are by appointment only. In emergency situations you will be put in contact with a physician.

MONDAY : 9am-1pm 2pm-8pm
TUESDAY : 9am-1pm 2pm-8pm
WEDNESDAY : 9am-1pm 2pm-5pm
THURSDAY : 9am-1pm 2pm-5pm
FRIDAY : 9am-1pm 2pm-5pm
SATURDAY : 9am-12:30pm

Office is closed for lunch 1pm-2pm Monday-Friday.

Pre-Natal Visits

If you are expecting a baby and looking for a pediatrician we recommend a pre-natal visit. We are happy to meet with you prior to delivery to introduce you to our physicians and office staff and to discuss any questions you may have. We believe that this visit is very important as it creates a foundation for our future long-term relationship.

Appointments

When making an appointment please explain the exact reason your child needs to be seen so that sufficient time is allocated for your child’s visit. We make every effort to keep to our schedule but physician delays due to hospital rounds, medical emergencies, and responding to urgent patient phone calls can upset our schedule. We ask for your patience and understanding. If you need to have more than one child seen on the day of the appointment, please call ahead so that we may adjust our schedule accordingly.

Every household today has a hectic schedule and as a courtesy to other families we would appreciate your cooperation. An appointment for a physical exam will be confirmed two days in advance by our staff, to the phone number you have provided in your child’s chart. If you need to reschedule or cancel this type of appointment we ask that you give the office at least 24 hours notice. This will allow us to accommodate another patient in need of this type of service. A $30.00 fee will be charged for missing this appointment. Any no shows for a sick visit appointment will incur a $25.00 fee as well

Please arrive at the office 10 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment. Kindly inform us of any changes in your address, health insurance, home, work, and cell phone numbers.

Phone Calls

Please call for well visits and non-urgent advice during regular office hours. Patient care and emergencies take priority over non-urgent phone calls but we make every effort to return your phone call as soon as possible. If you are calling from work, please give us both your work and your home phone number. If a parent of a child has a different surname from the child or uses a different name professionally at work please let us know. Please give us the phone number for your pharmacy for any medication related issue. We are available for emergencies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the presence of a true life-threatening emergency your child should be brought to the nearest available hospital.

After office hours, please call us at (631) 698-0600 to talk to our answering service. They will ask you some basic questions to determine the seriousness of your child’s complaint. Depending on the nature of the problem, between the hours of 7pm and 7am your call will be answered either by the pediatrician or the pediatric nurse practitioner.

When possible, please call us before taking your child to an emergency room or urgent care center. We may be able to handle the problem in our office or we can communicate with the emergency doctors so that your child gets the best possible care.

Payments and Insurance

Payment, including insurance co-pays and non-covered services, is expected at the time of the visit. We now accept payment in Debit and Major Credit Cards as well as cash and checks. Our office charges a $10 fee if we bill you and a $20 fee for each bounced check.

Patients may be required to use specific diagnostic facilities and/or hospitals under their insurance plans. Please be familiar with the provisions of your plan. We do not always have access to that information, particularly if you call after office hours.

We participate in many Managed Care Plans .

Referrals

We are proud of providing comprehensive care to our patients but there are times when it is necessary to refer to specialists for further evaluation and treatment. Many insurers, through their HMO products, create a “gated” model which requires the primary care physician to authorize referrals to specialists. We will provide referrals to physicians participating in your plan after evaluating the clinical complaint. We request 48 hours advance notice for referrals. We cannot do retroactive referrals for consultations not initially recommended by one of our pediatricians.

Hospital Affiliations

Our physicians are members of the pediatric departments of St. Charles Hospital and the University Hospital of Stony Brook.

While we are also affiliated with John T. Mather Memorial Hospital , please be advised that Mather does not have a pediatric department.