Uptown Office: 450 West End Avenue • New York, NY 10024 • 212-769-3070 • Fax: 877-451-0227

Downtown Office: 2 Fifth Avenue • New York, NY 10011 • 212-353-0072 • Fax: 877-451-0227

Uptown Office: 450 West End Avenue • New York, NY 10024 • 212-769-3070 • Fax: 877-451-0227

Downtown Office: 2 Fifth Avenue • New York, NY 10011 • 212-353-0072 • Fax: 877-451-0227

Phone Calls

During office hours Please call and a receptionist will route your call through our electronic records to the appropriate person (physician, triage nurse, referrals). Let them know the pharmacy number if you are expecting to have a medication called in.

  • Nurse triage: During regular hours, our nurses are well- trained to answer your questions about routine baby and child care, common symptoms, over-the-counter medications, and vaccine reactions. To leave a non-urgent message for a nurse, include your name and number, child's name and age, topic of concern, and best contact time. If you believe your child has a serious complaint that requires a same-day visit, request an appointment directly with the receptionist.
  • Physician call backs: Our doctors are eager to answer your questions and concerns but cannot be interrupted during patient visits, and most often will return calls later in the day. For non-urgent matters, return calls may be delayed. If you have not heard back from the doctor, speak with the triage nurse who can often expedite a response to your questions.

For routine questions It is usually best to request the nurse to answer your question. Your call will probably be returned within an hour. If you prefer to leave the message for a physician, they will let you know if that physician is in the office that day to return your call. Our physicians return calls at various times, so it is helpful if you give a time period you will be available at a certain number and if there is an alternate number you will be available after a certain time. This will minimize the “phone tag” problem with the doctor.

For urgent problems Let the message desk know and they will find medical personnel to talk to you right away.

After office hours After the office closes in the evenings, weekends, and night on major holidays a physician is always available for problems that cannot wait until the office opens in the morning.

We answer phones after 8:00 AM Monday through Friday and after 9:30 AM on Saturday and Sunday. If you have left a message and have not heard back in an hour or two in the evenings or promptly in the middle of the night, please call again. Occasionally we have been given a wrong number, or you may find your phone is off the hook.

We are closed for major holidays, but there is always someone on call by phone to provide you with emergency advice or direct you to an emergency room if necessary if it cannot wait until the office opens the next day.

What warrants an emergency night call 
To best serve you, we would like to offer some guidelines for what is an emergency call in the middle of the night. When you have decided to call us after hours, we suggest the following guidelines, excerpted from Penelope Leach’s book, Your Baby And Child:

  • If you were unable to contact the doctor, would you feel that you had to call an ambulance or drive the child to the nearest emergency room?
  • If you reached the doctor and she/he agreed the child needed to be seen urgently in the emergency room, would you be eager to dress yourself and the child and go there?
  • If your doctor listened to your story, either over the phone or in person, and recommended admitting the child to the hospital, would you accept that advice without hesitation?