Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, we welcome new patients.

Please refer to Insurance to review Advocare's list of accepted insurance providers.

Yes, we promote breastfeeding. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding babies for the first six to twelve months. Breastfeeding helps defend children against infections, prevents allergies, and protects against a number of chronic conditions. While experts believe that breast milk is the best nutritional choice for infants, breastfeeding may not be possible for all women. Some women have specific medical considerations that impede breastfeeding; others choose to feed by formula because of discomfort, work schedule, or lifestyle choices. In these cases, an iron-fortified, milk-based infant formula is a good alternative. We will gladly discuss your diet and feeding concerns at your child's well care visit, or please call during office hours to speak with our experienced nursing staff.

To schedule an appointment please access the patient portal by clicking here.

Secondarily, you can make an appointment by calling 201-319-9800 for Union City and 201-437-9600 for Bayonne. To ensure the best use of time, for both our physicians and patients, all of our office visits are by appointment only. We ask that you arrive at our office 10 - 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment time. This will allow you to complete any necessary paperwork and to update any demographic and insurance changes. If you must cancel an appointment, please notify us as soon as possible so we can offer that time to someone else.

Emergencies arise. We will advise you if there is going to be a delay in seeing you. If your schedule won't allow you to wait, we will be happy to reschedule your appointment. We do appreciate your patience and cooperation during our busy times and we will make every effort to keep your wait time to a minimum.

If you have any urgent questions after our office is closed, please call the same number and a very experienced nurse will answer your call. If the nurse and parent deem it necessary, then the doctor on call will be paged to answer parents' questions. For routine questions please contact us via Patient portal or call during business hours.

IN THE EVENT OF A LIFE THREATENING EMERGENCY, CALL 911.

Our routine health maintenance visit schedule follows the American Academy of Pediatrics vaccine guideline for children.

We recommend that your newborn be seen in our office the 2-3 days after discharge from the hospital. Our staff understands the importance of this first visit and will make every effort to schedule this visit promptly.

Every effort is made to arrange your child's well care and follow up visits with the physician of your choice. When your child is ill, he or she may see any one of our physicians.

For non-urgent referrals:   when one of our doctors refers you to a specialist, please schedule your appointment with the specialist, then call our office within five business days of your appointment. Your referral will be available within 72 hours. Most referrals are completed electronically and submitted directly to the specialist's office. Please check with our office staff to determine if your insurance plan processes referrals electronically.

For urgent referrals:   when one of our doctors determines that you need an urgent referral, your referral will be initiated immediately. Please remain in our office while your referral is processed, then proceed to your specialist.

We are open six days a week in Union City and 5 days a week in Bayonne and offer virtual visits on Sunday mornings.

To help protect your child from many serious infectious diseases, we follow the immunization schedule recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Please discuss your immunization questions and concerns with any of our pediatricians.

As all children are different, we advise following several appropriate steps to advance your child's diet based on age and development. Please discuss these steps with our providers at your well care visit.

You will receive a call quickly with any lab results that require urgent attention. Other abnormal lab results will be addressed promptly by the provider that ordered the labs or tests. Normal values are reviewed and addressed by the physician that ordered them.