Kaylyn and Dylan K Expanding care for the youngest emergency patients

"They’re amazing, from the technicians and nurses to the physicians. They know how to talk to the kids to keep them calm."

Kids can say the darnedest things. So the thumbs up from children treated at the Thomas & Ann Unterberg Pediatric Emergency Department are extra special.

Raj Kaur has two active children— which has meant many trips to the Emergency Department. And each time, the Holmdel mom has taken her kids to the Unterberg Children’s Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center, where they receive specialized care in the Thomas & Ann Unterberg Pediatric Emergency Department (ED).

While other hospitals are closer to Kaur’s home, she’s willing to drive an extra 20 minutes or so to Monmouth Medical Center whenever possible.

“They’re experts when it comes to kids,” says Kaur. “They’re super compassionate and they know how to deal with children. They treat you like family.” Plus, the pediatric ED recently began providing care around the clock—making it even more accessible to families from across the region.

Kid-friendly staff

For Kaur’s son, his first visit came at age 2 after he hit his head on a toilet. “When the ambulance came, I requested they take him to Monmouth Medical Center,” recalls Kaur. “That’s where I went when I was a kid. And I feel more secure with an Emergency Department that specializes in children.”

In 2014, Kaur’s kids both ended up in the ED at the same time. Her daughter Kaylyn Sidhu, now 11, fell and hurt her wrist at tennis camp, while her son Dylan Sidhu, now 7, appeared to have a broken nose after getting hit with a hockey stick at sports camp. “When I picked them up that afternoon, I was concerned, so I took them straight to Monmouth,” she says. “The doctors in the Emergency Department were amazing. They were going back and forth between the two of them.”

As it turned out, Kaylyn was the one with the broken bone—she had a fractured wrist. Lawrence Stankovits, M.D., a pediatric orthopedist at Monmouth Medical Center, quickly treated her with a cast, and the family continued to follow up with him at his office.

“They’re amazing, from the technicians and nurses to the physicians. They know how to talk to the kids to keep them calm,” says the working mom, an executive at RWJBarnabas Health since 2013. “They were always coming in to check on us, offering to get us food. You don’t feel like a number. My friends who have gone there all say the same thing.”

Outstanding care

Last September, both kids returned again to Monmouth: Kaylyn came when she broke her ankle while cheerleading. Two weeks later, Dylan went after suffering a concussion during a football practice. As always, says Kaur, the service was “superior. They even guided us to the right place for Dylan’s follow-up care.”

Despite their injuries, Kaur’s children seem to enjoy these visits. “Every time my son gets hurt now, he asks if we can go to Monmouth Medical Center,” reports the grateful mom. “They love going there.”

The Thomas & Ann Unterberg Pediatric Emergency Department is located within The Unterberg Children’s Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center, 300 2nd Ave., Long Branch, NJ 07740. For more information, visit rwjbhinfo.org/Monmouth