Saint Peter's Healthcare System Expands Pediatric Services in New Brunswick

Saint Peter's Healthcare System expanded its pediatric specialty clinics in New Brunswick this fall, adding pediatric endocrinology, pulmonology, and gastroenterology appointment slots after years of families reporting long wait times or having to travel to Philadelphia or New York for specialist care.

The expansion adds four additional specialist physicians and extends clinic hours into evenings twice a week, a schedule change hospital officials say was requested repeatedly by working parents unable to take time off during standard business hours for their children's specialist appointments.

"Families were telling us they'd wait two or three months for a pediatric endocrinology appointment, or they'd just drive to Philadelphia because it was faster," said Saint Peter's Healthcare System Chief of Pediatrics Dr. Amara Chukwu. "That's not acceptable for a hospital that's supposed to be the region's dedicated children's health resource."

Saint Peter's is designated as New Jersey's official Catholic children's hospital and draws pediatric patients from across central New Jersey. Hospital administrators say specialist wait times had grown steadily over the past several years even as the overall regional pediatric population increased.

The health system says it plans to add a fifth specialty, pediatric rheumatology, by the end of next year, pending recruitment of a qualified physician willing to relocate to central New Jersey.