The Queens Courier: PM Pediatrics, a New Level of Care

Visitors to the new PM Pediatrics office in Bayside will be greeted by a vibrant illustration of rushing streams, exotic flowers, prowling and grazing wildlife and a 10-foot tall model giraffe next to the tiki-hut style front desk. Obviously, this is not your average emergency room.

After spending years working as the director of pediatric emergency medicine at New York Hospital Queens, Jeffery Schor, MD, MPH, MBA, FAAP, would often speak to his closest friend and former college roommate, Steven Katz about some of his frustrations with running his department.

“Most of the kids that go to emergency rooms are not really true emergencies per se. They just don’t have any other places to go,” said Schor. “Either their pediatrician is closed or there is an issue that a pediatrician cannot handle such as a broken bone or stitches. So, the emergency rooms become overcrowded, waits are long and no matter what, it’s a stressful environment.”

With so much hustle and bustle that comes along with the modern emergency room, children’s fears and anxieties are often compounded through their innate intimidating nature, explained Schor. This led both Schor and Katz—who received his Masters in Business Administration from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business—to a moment of clarity …