NewYork-Presbyterian. The University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell.

The Allen Hospital

Neonatology

Return to Allen Hospital Home Page

Neonatology at The Allen Hospital

The Department of Neonatology at NewYork-Presbyterian/The Allen Hospital is comprised of neonatologists, neonatal nurses, pediatricians, and neonatology fellows who provide care to infants in our Well Baby and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nurseries.

While most of the 2,400 babies delivered each year at The Allen Hospital stay with their mothers in the hospital's Well Baby Nursery, premature infants or those who have respiratory distress, jaundice, blood sugar problems, or other difficulties are cared for in the more advanced care NICU Nursery. In the NICU, our attending neonatologists and neonatology fellows are present 24 hours a day, ensuring that high-risk newborns receive the specialty care that they need. A board-certified pediatrician is also present to provide services to newborns in either nursery.

Special services we offer include:

• Developmentally appropriate care of growing premature infants
• Physical and occupational therapy
• A breastfeeding room and lactation support service
• Nasal CPAP for oxygen delivery
• Short-term mechanical ventilation
• Tube or oral feeding
• Phototherapy (light therapy) for treatment of jaundice

Infants requiring care beyond The Allen Hospital's NICU Nursery are transferred to the NICU at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital has been ranked among the ten best children's hospitals in the nation by US News and World Report.

Family-Centered Care

The Department of Neonatology at The Allen Hospital promotes family-centered care whenever possible. Breastfeeding and "rooming in" — a practice where newborns stay in the same room as their parents — are encouraged. Family members are also issued hospital photo IDs to facilitate secure access to the postpartum floor. Security in this section of the hospital is especially strict. The area features a state-of-the-art wireless alarm system, where an alarm will sound if a newborn is carried beyond certain limits.

Once they are discharged, infants are followed by the pediatrician of their parents' choice, or may be referred to a pediatrician in one of NewYork-Presbyterian's Ambulatory Network Clinics.

About Our Physicians

Neonatologists at The Allen Hospital also serve on the staff of NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, one of the country's major medical centers. In addition, each of our physicians is a member of the highly regarded ColumbiaDoctors faculty practice. This means that patients experience a level of care found in a leading academic medical center, while being cared for in the intimate setting of a community hospital.

Our Physicians

• Francis A. Akita, MD (Chief of Service)
• Vasudeva M. Kamath, MD
• Caroline S. Sibblies, MD