Pediatrics

(718) 963-7708

Welcome to the Department of Pediatrics

Our Mission: The Pediatrics Department is dedicated to the highest quality of preventative health and to the management of acute to chronic illnesses for all patients (birth to age to 21 years of age) requiring pediatric care. In addition, we strive to improve care through participation in research and clinical programs aimed at prevention strategies for illnesses that cause significant morbidity to children. Finally realizing what a profound association there is between medical care provision and non-medical resources, we partner with the local community to provide a variety of resources that improve general health and access to medical care. For more information on each division of pediatrics in our department see below.

Hyperlinks:

Wyckoff offers discounted fees for patients who qualify. Please see our financial assistance policy for more information:

Financial Assistance

Wyckoff Pediatric Care Center

"Where the health of your child is our priority"

Adolescent Session: Once a week the Pediatric clinic dedicates time to address the individual and unique issues faced by our adolescents.
Healthy Steps: Through this initiative, we are providing extra guidance and support for our patients 0-5 years to allowing parents to have another resource for child development.
Collaborative Behavior: This program trial helps address mental conditions such as anxiety and depression in adolescents 12 – 21 years old.
Nutritionist: On site nutritionist works in conjunction with endocrinology and the primary care team to help patients improve dietary habits.

General Pediatrics

The Wyckoff Pediatric Care Center is state-of-the art facility that focuses on providing outstanding medical treatment to all our patients from newborns through age 21. We are located only a few blocks away from the main hospital in a unique multicultural and multiethnic neighborhood on the border of Brooklyn and Queens.

Our well experienced healthcare staff is dedicated to deliver a comprehensive care to all our patients. This includes monitoring the healthy development and growth of your child, providing anticipatory guidance, preventive health, immunizations, as well as treating infants, children and adolescents with common and those affected with more chronic complex illnesses.

At our center, our Pediatricians have the opportunity to work closely with many pediatric subspecialties including Cardiology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Hematology-Oncology, High Risk newborns, Neurology, Podiatry, Pulmonology and Surgery,as well as Nutritionist and Social Workers to provide the best outpatient care for your children.

Since learning is another important element,and because we are part of a teaching hospital, our doctors are continuously provided with education on the latest news in Pediatrics, as well as we do on site teaching to residents and medical students.

Special Programs at Wyckoff Pediatric Care Center

Oral Health Screening: With the collaboration of the Wyckoff Dental Department, this service is currently providing oral health assessments, education on dental hygiene and healthy diet, fluoride application to kids at risk for developing caries, and encouraging families to establish a dental home for their children for subsequent dental care (only specific days).

Pediatric Asthma Program: Is a novel primary care program offered to patients age 0-21 years, with a goal to help patients achieve better control of their asthma through home visits, asthma education, as well as providing subspecialty care by a Pediatric Pulmonologist. Wyckoff Heights Medical Center is the first hospital in New York State and the eleventh hospital in the country to receive the prestigious Disease Specification Certification in Pediatric Asthma.

Reach Out and Read: Through the support of this non-profit organization, our medical providers are donating new books to children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years to promote early literacy and school readiness.

All these services and many in progress are our commitment to our community to provide a high standard of pediatric care within our facility.

Wyckoff Pediatric Care Center
Location: 14-11 Myrtle Avenue
Brooklyn, N.Y 11237
Hours: Monday – Friday 8am-7pm
Saturday 8:30am-2:30pm

Off-service hours answered by one of our doctors and nurse practioners

General Pediatric Services

Well child exams for newborns through age 21
Walk-in acute care, no appointments necessary
Emergency Room discharge follow-up
In-patient discharge follow-up
Sports physicals
Working & volunteering forms for adolescents
On-site laboratory exams
Nutritionist
Early Intervention Services
Social Work Services

General Pediatric Providers

Uriel Mirzakandov, M.D

Male Pediatrician: Diplomat of American Board of Pediatrics
Specialty: Pediatrics
Other Languages Spoken: Russian

Patrisha Woolard-Pickens, M.D,PhD

Female Pediatrician: Diplomat of American Board of Pediatrics
Specialty: Pediatrics
Other Languages Spoken: Spanish

Rachel McKenny, RN, MS, PMHS, CPNP

Female Nurse Practitioner: ANCC Certified in Pediatric Primary Care
Pediatric Primary Care Mental Health Specialist
Training in Colombia School of Nursing
Directory of Nurse Practitioner Fellowship Program
Specialty: Pediatrics, Hematology, Neurology
Languages Spoken: Moderate Spanish

Eunie Park, PNP

Female Nurse Practitioner: ANCC Certified in Pediatric Primary Care
Training: Yale School of Nursing
Specialty: Pediatrics
Languages Spoken: Moderate Spanish

Pediatric Subspecialty Clinic

Cardiology: Dr. S. Quraishi
Endocrinology: Dr. M. Goldis
Gastroenterology: Dr. G. Sharma
Hematology-Oncology: Dr. G. DelToro
High Risk: Dr. S. Patel/Dr. C. Cazano
Neurology: Dr. K. Chu Cheong
Podiatry: Dr. D. Pollack
Pulmonology: Dr. D. Vaysman

To make an appointment or for questions call:
(718)-907-4301
(718)-907-4302

Inpatient Pediatrics

On the 8th floor of the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, we provide care to infants and children requiring hospital ization for multiple days or observation for less than 24 hours. The Pediatric Inpatient Floor is a 18-bed unit that receives admissions from the WHMC Pediatric Emergency Department, Wyckoff Heights Pediatric Center and from a host of private Pediatricians practicing in Bushwick and neighboring area in both Brooklyn and Queens.

The care of our patients is supervised and managed by a host of board certified and Board-Eligible Pediatricians. In addition, we have 6 residents in AOA approved pediatric program, 2 house staff officers and a host of well-trained pediatric nurses under the guidance Pediatric Floor Director Dr. Patrisha Woolard-Pickens and Floor Manager Rachel McKenney RN, MS, PMHS, CPNP . Some patients requiring brief transitional care in preparation for transfer to a facility with an intensive care unit also receive supportive clinical management by Attendings and Housestaff from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

The playroom and entertainment resources (educational and age-appropriate videos and games) offer a welcoming and jovial environment to foster a comfortable, less stressful environment for healing.

To continue patient’s education, a certified teacher comes to provide scholastic learning while admitted to the inpatient floor.

Our team is committed to high-quality care based on empathy and evidenced-based management of pediatric illnesses.

Disease Specification Certification in Pediatric Asthma

Wyckoff is the first hospital in New York State and 11th in the entire nation to achieve this recognition and the first one in New York State from the Joint Commission.

This advanced certification of distinction validates the quality of care we provide to infants, children and adolescents with asthma from emergency room to the inpatient ward to the outpatient area.

Certification in Pediatric Asthma

NP Fellowship

Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Fellowship Program

This is a full-time, 12-month salaried position with benefits in Brooklyn, New York. The next PNP Fellowship class begins March 2019 and finishes the end of February 2020. It provides intensive pediatric practice training in an urban, safety net setting, with a high performance, PCMH model of primary care. This program is for pediatric nurse practitioners committed to developing careers in community health centers or other safety net settings.

Program includes:

Precepted primary care sessions in both pediatric Emergency Department and outpatient clinic
Mentored independent clinics
Specialty rotations
Didactic sessions

Qualifications: Graduates within 18 months of Masters or DNP programs, certified or board eligible as a PNP, Spanish speaking candidates preferred

For more information, please contact Rachel McKenny, CPNP at 718-963-7368 or rmckenny@wyckoffhospital.org

Consultants:

Pediatric Neurology
Keith Chu Cheong, MD		718-486-4999
Pediatric Hematology/Onc
Gustavo Del Toro, MD	Chief Medical Officer	718-963-7708
Pediatric Gastroenterology
Girish Sharma, MD		718-963-4272
Child Psychiatry
Joseph Ewa, MD		718-963-4272
Pediatric Cardiology
Shahed Qurashi, MD		718-963-4272
Pediatric Endocrinology
Marina Goldis, MD		718-963-7272
Nutrition
Michelle Deroschers, RD		718-907-4301
Podiatry
Michael Hutzel, MD		718-907-4301
Daniel Pollack, MD

Neonatology Department

In our level IIIB, Department of Neonatalogy, we provide the highest quality care to our community’s newborns and their families, in a start-of-the-art, nurturing environment. Our facility is comprised of a 15 bed intensive care unit for critical newborns as well as baby friendly mother/baby co-habituating rooms. We believe that children are the most important resource our community has, and we are dedicated to their thriving and positive development.

In the NICU, our mission is to provide the highest quality care to our community’s newborns and their families, in a state-of-the-art nurturing environment. We offer the most technologically advanced interventions such as inhaled nitric oxide, high frequency ventilation and neonatal general surgery to assure the best possible outcomes for our smallest and most vulnerable patients.

All care is rendered 24/7 by board certified pediatricians, who are overseen by board certified neonatologists.

Pediatric Neonatalogists
Sanjivan Patel, MD, FAAP	Chairman of Pediatrics, Director of Neonatalogy	American Academy of Pediatrics Board Certified
Calixto Cazano, MD	Associate Director of Neonatalogy	American Academy of Pediatrics Board Certified
Fernando Ginebra, MD		American Academy of Pediatrics Board Certified
Pediatricians
Suparna Chowdhury, MD		American Academy of Pediatrics Board Certified
Tatyana Groysman, MD		American Academy of Pediatrics Board Certified
Wilfredo Lao, MD		American Academy of Pediatrics Board Certified
Patrisha Woolard-Pickens MD, Ph.D	Director of Inpatient Pediatrics	American Academy of Pediatrics Board Certified
Pediatric Surgeon
Francisca Velcek, MD		Certified in General Surgery and Pediatric Surgery
Retinologist
David Berman, MD		Certified in Ophthalmology and Retinology

Lactation Consultation

Lactation consultation services are available 24 hours before and after delivery. This service enables mothers to have the greatest chance of success with breast-feeding. Georgeanne Lopez is a certified Breastfeeding Consultatnt and proactively provides this service to the families in the hospital (WBN, NICU, and Inpatient Pediatric Floor) and at the outpatient Pediatric Care Center.

Collaborative efforts with multiple specialists ensure competent care for newborns with challenges. Out team includes Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Neurology, Pediatric Opthalmology, Pediatric Gastroenterology, Pediatric Endocrinology and Obstetric Perinatalogy Specialists.

Pediatric Emergency Department

Director – Marina Levin, MD
Wyckoff Heights Medical Center has a separate Pediatric Emergency Room, fully equipped with state-of-the-art emergency equipment, staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by Board Certified pediatricians and emergency trained physicians. We see over 27,000 patients annually from the community. The turn-around time of the pediatric emergency room is among the lowest in the city.

Educational Programs:

Osteopathic Residency Training Program
Pediatric Clerkship for third year medical students
Sub-Internship for fourth year medical students
Electives in Pediatric Cardiology and Emergency Medicine for Medical Students
Daily Morning Report for Residents and Students
Weekly Grand Rounds presented by Hospital and Community Attendings
Monthly Journal Club Presentation
Monthly Quiz for Pediatric Board Preparation
Weekly lectures for students given by Hospital Attending and Residents

Residency Introduction:

The Pediatric Residency Program at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center (WHMC) provides a progressive educational curriculum with increasing patient care and supervisory responsibilities over a three-year training period. Each year there are 12 rotations, each one-month in duration.

At this primary site, residents rotate through the Pediatric Inpatient Floor, Pediatric Emergency Room, Pediatric Ambulatory Care including continuity clinic, Neonatal Intensive Care Unity (NICU) and the NewBorn Nursery. In addition, residents rotate through required electives in Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Gastroenterology and Pediatric Neurology. Residents also have the option to complete rotations in Pediatric Surgery and School Heath.

Our Teaching faculty consists of 15 teaching faculty members (including 10 core faculty members) and 6 Residents, (3) PGY-2, (3) PGY-3. Recent graduate Roger Nakata, DO has starting working as an outpatient pediatrician in California after passing his AOBP certifying examination. Shoji Samson, DO has started his Neonatal Fellowship in Baylor Scott and White Hospital in Temple, Texas.

Objectives for all rotations are to develop skills for organizing, and providing succinct and appropriately detailed written notes in electronic health records. Residents must learn to prioritize clinical tasks and to supervise junior residents and medical students. Residents must learn to effectively communicate with support staff, utilize hearth care resource, and perform required clinical procedures.

Outside Rotations:

Residents rotate at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital during their second year of residency. They rotate through Adolescent Medicine, Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Pediatric Endocrinology, Pediatric Pulmonology, and Hematology/Onocology electives at this site.

The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) rotation occurs once during PGY-2 and once during PGY-3 at Cohen’s Children’s Medical Center(CCMC). CCMC is a level IV, 31-bed PICU. All levels of patient care are provided with advanced therapies including extra-coporeal membranous oxygenation(ECMO) life support, renal replacement therapy (RRT), inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) and high frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV).

The Wyckoff Heights Medical Center Pediatric Residency Program welcomes you to visit and apply to our program.

Residents:

Jennifer Horne D.O. OGME -3: Dr. Horne attended University of Pittsburgh for her undergraduate studies and Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in New York for medical school. Dr. Horne is interested in Neontalogy. In her free time she enjoys tending to her garden and cooking/eating delicious vegetarian food.
Karen Koto D.O. OGME -3: Dr. Koto attended Oberlin College for undergraduate studies and Touro University in California for medical school. Dr. Koto is interested in Neonatology. Dr. Koto enjoys spending time with her family in her free time.
Phillip Knight D.O. OGME -3: Chief Resident
Dr. Knight attended Philadelphia University for his undergraduate studies and Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine for medical school. Dr. Knight is interested in General Pediatrics. In Dr. Knight’s free time he enjoys long walks, reading, and performing karaoke.
Lisa Storey D.O. OGME-2: Dr. Storey attended Texas A&M for her undergraduate studies and UNT Health Science Center-Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine for medical school. Dr. Storey is interested in General Pediatrics. Dr. Storey’s personal goal while she is here in NYC is to find a famous person in her free time.
Emily Marmarou D.O. OGME-2: Dr. Marmarou attended Philadelphia University for her undergraduate studies and Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine for medical school. Dr. Marmarou is interested in General Pediatrics and Neonatology. In her free time she enjoys playing with her 2 year old son at numerous city parks.
JuhiUddin D.O. OGME-2: Dr. Uddin attended Loyola Univeristy for undergraduate studies and Des Moine University for medical school. Dr. Uddin is interested in General Pediatrics. In her free time she enjoys bike riding through New York City.

Community Programs

Community Outreach
Our mission is to partner with the community schools, foster-care facilities, shelters and other community-based organizations to provide a holistic approach to improving wellness in this young and rapidly expanding population. Here is the list of some of the partners we have been working with.

Flushing Family Residence
Ridgewood YMCA
Coalition for Hispanic Services
Puerto-Rican Family Institute
Make the Road New York
Audrey Johnson (Head Start Center)
25 schools in the regions of Bushwick ,Brooklyn and Ridgewood, Queens
Newlife Head Start

Research and Scholarly Activity

Synergistic Pharmacologic Intervention for Prevention of Retinopathy of Prematurity (SPIPROP Study)
Principle Investigators – Sanjivan Patel, MD, FAAP , Calixto Cazano, MD, and the Neonatal Intesive Team
We are one of 7 centers in the country in phase 2 of a study designed to examine the extent medication intervention can be use to prevent ROP in neonates.

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