In his exam room, Dr. Andrew Swiderski hands his young patient a toy cell phone, encouraging the child to push the buttons that produce various sounds. Then he covers the keyboard with his fingers.  “Usually, a child will look up at me or his parent and say, ‘Why are you doing this?’  He’s made the […]

Sometimes a routine visual and clinical exam, done in a dentist’s chair, can save a life. Dr. Naida Henriquez, director of dentistry at Open Door Family Medical Center, and her team routinely perform a comprehensive oral exam and tobacco screening with patients as young as 12 years old. The exam itself, done as part of […]

Childhood asthma, according to Dr. Andrew Swiderski, a pediatrician at Open Door Family Medical Center in Ossining, can be “a beast.” This is particularly true among patients living in the underserved communities Open Door cares for, as differences in asthma prevalence, morbidity and mortality are related closely with poverty, urban air quality, indoor allergens and lack of […]

There is no shame in seeking professional help to treat stress, says Dr. Jacob Samander, a board-certified psychiatrist with Open Door Family Medical Center.   “You need to treat stress like you treat diabetes,” he said. “As with diabetes, treatment begins with seeing an expert and making lifestyle changes – eating healthier, learning to sleep better, […]

Lindsay Neptune, a nurse practitioner and Director of School-Based Health Clinical Services at Open Door Family Medical Center in Port Chester and Ossining, remembers the nine-year-old who stayed home alone for a week while recovering from Covid.   “The parent, after being out of work for months during the height of the pandemic, had started a […]

There’s a lot to consider when you have diabetes. And, unfortunately, it’s often the feet that are the furthest thing from one’s mind. With the American Diabetes Association’s annual Alert Day approaching (March 28th), it’s especially timely to discuss the importance for those with diabetes to pay close attention to their feet. More than one […]