Pediatric ERs in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx & Staten Island

7/7/14 - By Alina Adams

Back in December, we posted about the best pediatric ERs in Manhattan since the holidays are an accident-prone period. But as we noted at the time, you really never know when a medical crisis may strike—after all, by definition, an emergency is unexpected. So whether it's a sledding mishap in winter or falling out of a tree in summer, it's important to know where to find a pediatric ER near you year-round.

While there are eight of these special just-for-children emergency rooms in Manhattan, there are even more in the outer boroughs—so many in fact, we can't list every single one of them here. Instead, we picked the ones with excellent reputations or notable specialties. Of course our hope is that you will never need the information in this post. However, if your child does have an accident and a Band-Aid and icepack won't cut it, here are the best pediatric ERs in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island.

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Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Hospital Center – Fort Greene
121 DeKalb Avenue at Ashland Place
A Level II Trauma Center, this emergency department comes equipped with its own child-friendly waiting area (due to space constraints, only two visitors may sit with a patient receiving care at any given time). In addition, the staff speaks multiple languages and language coordinators are available.

Maimonides Medical Center – Borough Park
4802 Tenth Avenue near 48th Street
In addition to a 24-hour pediatric emergency room, Maimonides is home to the NYC Pediatric Disaster Coalition, which helps hospitals, public health organizations and community groups work together during large-scale disasters affecting children. There's also a Pediatric Triage/Transport Plan in collaboration with FDNY/EMS, and even a way for doctors to remotely assess patients and rate their need for transportation to a different hospital during an emergency.
 

Queens

Flushing Hospital Medical Center – Flushing
4500 Parsons Boulevard near 45th Avenue
A self-contained, Pediatric Emergency Division staffed by board certified pediatricians is available 24 hours a day. Flushing is also a designated hypothermia resuscitation receiving hospital. If admitted overnight, kids will be happy to know that the pediatric floor comes with a playroom, library, computers and even a media center. There are also certified child-life specialists on hand to help youngsters deal with illness and stress in a non-traumatic manner.

Elmhurst Hospital Center – Elmhurst
79-01 Broadway near Baxter Avenue
Due to high asthma rates in the Jackson Heights and Elmhurst neighborhoods, the Hospital Center has a seven-station treatment room for patients with breathing complaints. It also maintains a pediatric psychiatric emergency department, and is a pediatrics training site for the FDNY's paramedic students so the treatment your child receives on the way to the hospital is top-notch.
 

The Bronx

The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore – East Bronx
3415 Bainbridge Avenue between East 210th Street and East Gun Hill Road
Nationally ranked by US News & World Report and open 24/7, CHAM houses one of the busiest Pediatric Emergency Departments in the tri-state area. Upon admission all patients, from infants to adolescents, are evaluated by a specially trained nurse. Next, they are either assigned to the Fast Track area, where they are promptly treated and discharged, or moved into a state-of-the-art resuscitation room, where noninvasive digital computers monitor heart and respiratory systems.

Jacobi Medical Center – East Bronx
1400 Pelham Parkway South near Eastchester Road
The sole Pediatric Trauma Center (as opposed to just a pediatric ER) in the Bronx, Jacobi is equipped to deal with any kind of emergency, and has neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons and pediatric surgeons on staff 24/7. Fascinating fact: It's the only facility in NYC that keeps anti-venom on hand to treat cobra bites thanks to a partnership with the Bronx Zoo!

Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center – East Bronx
234 East 149th Street at Morris Avenue
This teaching hospital is open 24/7 and also offers a telephone triage number to call during emergencies. In addition, it houses a Child Advocacy Center that gives out advice and evaluations if you suspect a child is being abused.
 

Staten Island

Staten Island University Hospital – Ocean Breeze
475 Seaview Avenue near Mason Avenue
Located on the hospital's north campus, SIUH's Elizabeth A. Connelly Emergency and Trauma Center accepts patients of all ages. As an added bonus, it also plays host to The Early Childhood Direction Center, a free service that helps parents find community services for children ages five and under with such conditions as developmental delays, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, autism, epilepsy, deafness, blindness and ADD.

Richmond University Medical Center – Richmond Terrace
355 Bard Avenue near Castleton Avenue
For routine pediatric illnesses and injuries such as earaches, colds and sprains, patients can walk into the Children's Urgent Care Area, which is open seven days a week from 11:30am until midnight. For anything beyond that, head to the Level 1 Trauma Center, which includes a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and on-site pediatric pulmonology, endocrinology, hematology/oncology, nephrology and surgery sub-specialty services.

For a detailed, cross-referenced listing of all pediatric emergency facilities and their specialties in NYC, check out the online city directory (though be warned, it's from 2007 and some hospitals have closed since it was compiled). You can also find a more general roundup of New York City Hospital Pediatric Resources Directory from 2012 online.

Places featured in this article:


The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore

Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center

The Brooklyn Hospital Center

Maimonides Medical Center

Flushing Hospital Medical Center

Elmhurst Hospital Center

Staten Island University Hospital

Richmond University Medical Center