Monmouth Medical Center Children's Hospital Marks 15 Years

LONG BRANCH, NJ — The Unterberg Children’s Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center celebrated its fifteenth year as a licensed children's hospital this December.

One of the signature programs at Unterberg Children’s Hospital is its newborn critical care program, with NICU survival rates that are among the best in the nation. The children's hospital has also made incredible strides for children with cystic fibrosis, allowing children to lead lives longer and fuller than their parents ever imagined, often well into a thriving adulthood.

The state-designated Level III NICU offers the full range of pre- and perinatal services. The children's hospital has 140 pediatric specialists in 26 fields of medicine.

In 1968, Monmouth Medical Center was the first hospital in New Jersey and one of the first community hospitals in the country to establish a neonatal intensive care unit. Today the state-designated Level III NICU treats more than 550 infants each year.

“Our NICU’s survival rates are among the best in the country,” said Dr. Margaret C. Fisher, who has served as the medical director of the children's hospital for the past fifteen years — since it first opened — and only recently stepped down this year.

Another area of excellence is the hospital’s Comprehensive Cystic Fibrosis Center, which includes both pediatric and adult programs.

“As cystic fibrosis treatment has advanced, more children with CF are thriving and living into adulthood,” says Dr. Fisher. “We offer an exceptional transition program for adolescents who can then age into our adult care model.”

Dr. Fisher is a renowned pediatric infectious disease expert and stepped away from Long Branch to help coordinate New Jersey's roll-out of the coronavirus vaccine.

“Becoming a children’s hospital was a huge milestone for us,” she continued. “Since then we’ve grown and expanded our staff and services to meet the community’s needs. It’s been an exciting decade and a half of providing our community with the highest-quality pediatric services."

In December, Dr. Fisher began her new role as Special Advisor to the New Jersey Commissioner of Health, and serves as Director of the Office of Pandemic Response, and will help with the state’s rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.

The hospital’s pediatric services have evolved to meet the changing needs of patients and families, notes Jonathan Teitelbaum, M.D., Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Interim Chair of Pediatrics at Monmouth.

“The management of asthma, diarrhea, dehydration, and other conditions has improved over the last 15 years, and effective new vaccines have further reduced illness and pediatric hospital admissions,” Dr. Teitelbaum says. “On the other hand, with greater awareness of mental health issues, more children are being diagnosed with psychiatric disorders. As a result psychiatric hospital admissions have increased. We’ve grown our inpatient and outpatient services to address this need.”

Unterberg’s Children’s Crisis Intervention Service is the only state-designated center for Monmouth and Ocean counties providing inpatient treatment for children and adolescents with acute emotional, behavioral or psychological disorders.

The hospital’s psychiatric unit is equal in size to its general pediatric unit.

“We have many effective new medications in our arsenal to help these children,” said Dr. Fisher.

Additionally, The Unterberg Children’s Hospital recently expanded its Pediatric Neurology Program at the Unterberg Children’s Hospital and welcomed two experienced pediatric neurologists, both of whom are board certified in epilepsy.

The hospital’s Epilepsy Monitoring Program, which was introduced in December 2010, offers state-of-the-art equipment that allows for continuous video-EEG monitoring — the gold standard diagnostic investigation that can improve diagnostic accuracy when the diagnosis of epilepsy, particular seizure type, or location of onset is not clear by routine or prolonged EEG recordings.

Monmouth Medical Center also has programs in pediatric cancer, orthopedics and surgery. It is one of eight hospitals in the tristate area with a Valerie Fund Children’s Center, which provides compassionate, family-centered care for children with cancer and blood disorders. The pediatric surgery team has expertise in the diagnosis and management of a variety of disorders, from birth defects to trauma. The hospital is one of the few in the area to offer video assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for diseases of the lung and esophagus.

Nearby, a Ronald McDonald House provides accommodations for families of seriously ill children who are being treated the hospital.

“In fact, our ‘house’ consists of two houses, one in Long Branch and the other in New Brunswick, across the street from The Bristol Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital,” says Dr. Fisher.

On the education front, The Unterberg Children’s Hospital has an excellent pediatric residency program. It is also a Touchpoints Training Center. Founded by pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton, MD, Touchpoints applies principles of early childhood development to pediatric practice and policy. This unique way of providing care taps into the strengths of children and families.

“We’re proud of our impact on the children and families we care for, the childhood diseases we treat, and the physicians we train,” notes Dr. Fisher. “And we are well prepared for the challenges of the next 15 years.”