Pediatric Emergency Medicine

About Us
Checking In
Examination
Discharge Process
Contact Us
Our Providers

About Us

Welcome to the Pediatric Emergency Department at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital, a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth). You have chosen a world-class hospital with an expert and compassionate medical staff. No other hospital in the Hudson Valley or western Connecticut provides the timely, dignified pediatric care available at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital. We are home to the area's only dedicated Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Level I pediatric trauma and burn-care programs, and Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. This enables children and families to get the trusted care they need, close to home. And our partnership with Westchester Medical Center grants you full access to the region's pre-eminent provider of acute care.

Rest assured that your child's comfort and healing are at the forefront of everything we do.

Download our Pediatric Emergency Care Guide

Specialized Neurological for Children

Pediatric Emergency: Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital is home to the area's only dedicated Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Specially trained pediatric physicians provide care for emergent conditions, including pediatric stroke, seizures, brain injury, and other critical conditions requiring immediate medical attention. For more information, visit the Pediatric Neurology Department at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital.
Pediatric Trauma: Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital is an advanced free standing, dedicated children’s hospital and Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center providing care for the full spectrum of pediatric neurosurgical disorders and emergencies.

Maria Fareri Children's Hospital is a proud member of the Trauma Survivors Network. As a TSN facility, we are able to provide better trauma care and support for patients and families. Learn more about the Trauma Survivors Network.

Addressing Sudden Cardiac Arrest In the Community
Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, in partnership with Project ADAM, is helping area schools create comprehensive sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) preparedness plans. Learn more about our partnership with Project ADAM.

Download our Pediatric Emergency Care Guide

Check-In

When you arrive in the Pediatric Emergency Department, please provide your child's name and the reason for your visit to the registrar at the front desk. Please let the registrar know if your are the legal guardian of the patient.

Triage

Please do not allow your child to eat until he or she has been evaluated by a doctor. Please also note that the Pediatric Emergency Department does not see patients in the order of arrival. Specially trained triage nurses evaluate each child to make sure the most seriously ill or injured children are prioritized. The patients that require the most immediate care, as determined by the triage nurse, are seen first. However, we make every effort to have all children evaluated as quickly as possible by our doctors.

Interpretation Services

Interpretation services, including video and sign language interpretation, are available 24 hours a day. Interpretation is provided free of charge. Should you require any type of interpretation service, please notify the registration clerk and your nurse.

Registration and Patient Identification

After your child is evaluated by the triage nurse, the registrar will ask you basic questions to ensure your child’s proper identification. This is important for your child’s safety, especially when retrieving information from his or her medical record if your child has received our hospital’s care previously. The registrar will place an identification (ID) band on your child. Please review all information on the ID band, including your child’s name and date of birth, for accuracy. This ID band will be used by all caregivers to ensure that they provide the appropriate care to the correct patient.

Your child must always wear an ID band while being cared for at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital. If your child’s band falls off, please notify your child’s nurse or doctor so it can be replaced immediately. Hospital staff must check your child’s ID band and confirm your child’s name and date of birth before providing any care and before transporting your child anywhere within the hospital.

Hand Washing and Infection Control

Please wash your hands regularly with soap and water or hand sanitizer while in the Pediatric Emergency Department. Friends and family members with a cold, cough, fever or other illness should not visit the patient. Depending on your child’s symptoms, we may require him or her to wear a mask to prevent the spread of infection.

Our staff should also clean their hands with either hand sanitizer or soap and water every time they provide care to your child, administer medication or transport your child within the hospital. We encourage you to ask any caregiver to clean his or her hands if you have not seen him or her do so.

Visitors

In the Pediatric Emergency Department, we allow two visitors at the bedside at one time. The security guard will provide up to two visitor badges per patient. If there are more visitors for your child, additional visitors may sit in the waiting room.

Examination

When you are escorted from the waiting room, your child will be brought to an examination area and either be seated in a chair or placed on a stretcher or in a crib. A doctor will then examine your child and decide whether medicines, blood work or radiology tests are required. After the initial evaluation is complete, the doctor will decide if your child needs additional medications or testing.

Physician Consultations

Since Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital is a regional, pediatric acute-care facility, we have many expert subspecialists who are available only at our hospital. These pediatricians are trained to provide a specialized level of care to your child for his or her condition. When appropriate, your Pediatric Emergency Department doctor may consult with one of these specialists. This consultation may occur in person or by telephone.

Tests and Treatments

The amount of time each test takes varies significantly. Some test results may be available within a few minutes, but more complicated tests may take a few hours. As soon as test results are available, your doctor has immediate access to them on the computer.

Here are approximate completion times for some common tests and results:

Blood Tests: Three hours
X-Ray: Three hours
CT Scan: Five hours

The Emergency Department nurse or doctor will keep you informed of your child’s status. Please feel free to ask for updates during your child’s care in the Pediatric Emergency Department.

Admission

If your child’s condition requires admission to Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, a room will be requested on his or her behalf. Since we treat many patients, there may be instances in which all patient rooms are occupied. On an average day, the wait time for a room may vary from one hour to several hours. During our busiest times of the year, your child may be held in the Emergency Department overnight. Please be assured that your child will be transferred to a patient room as soon as one becomes available.

While in the Pediatric Emergency Department, you may see other patients move to a room before your child. Sometimes, certain patients have special requirements for which only specific rooms are equipped. Other times, patients may require a unit that provides a different level of care, such as an intensive care unit (ICU). Your child will be assigned a room as soon as an appropriate one is available.

Discharge Process

If your child is discharged from the Pediatric Emergency Department at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital, you will be provided written information on follow-up care or medications. Electronic prescriptions will be sent to your local pharmacy. Before leaving Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, please be sure to ask any questions you may have. If you schedule a follow-up appointment with another doctor, please bring all paperwork provided to you during the Pediatric Emergency Department visit, as well as the list of medications your child is taking.

Please note that some test results may not be finalized before you are discharged. If this is the case, please contact Medical Records at 914.493.7600, or have your physician’s office do so to obtain test results.

Follow-Up Appointments

To make a follow-up appointment with a Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital physician, please visit MariaFareriChildrens.org and click on “Find a Doctor”. Please bring all of our Emergency Department paperwork to any follow-up visits. Please note that most follow-up appointments are not within the hospital. Please confirm the location, date and time of your follow-up appointment before arriving.

School and Work Notes

Should you or your child require a physician note for absence from school, work, gym or other activities, please tell your child's doctor or nurse as early as possible in the care process.

Parking Ticket Validation

Parking for Pediatric Emergency Department patients is free in the Emergency Department lot, also known as Lot 5. Your parking ticket will be validated at registration. This validated ticket should be entered into the parking ticket machine when exiting the lot.

Paying for Treatment

Every effort will be made to process your insurance and financial information during registration in the Emergency Department. The Emergency Department will not deny your child being seen due to inability to pay. After your visit, you can except to receive one bill from Westchester Medical Center and one bill from the Emergency Department physician.

You may also receive a separate bill for other services provided. For example, if your child received an X-ray, you may receive a bill from the radiologist. Bills may be issued for diagnostic tests, physician services, supplies and/or special services. Additionally, depending on your medical insurance, you may be required to make a co-payment at the time of your visit.

For questions regarding your hospital bill, please contact our Accounts Payable department at 914.493.2089. For questions regarding your Emergency Department physician’s bill, please call 800.345.0064.

Contact Us

Pediatric Emergency Department
Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital
100 Woods Road
Valhalla, NY 10595
914.493.6001

By Car

Train

Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital is served by Metro North's Harlem line via two stations:

• White Plains - Bus transfer options available
• Hawthorne - Taxi service available

For train fare and schedule information, call 1-800-METRO-INFO or go to www.mta.info/mnr.