Family Medicine

Family Medicine in Staten Island, NY

Staying healthy is important for the whole family. Richmond University Medical Center provides a family medicine program for families in Staten Island, New York through our Richmond Health Network. This approach allows all family members to receive care at the same location and from the same knowledgeable physician. Patients build long-term relationships with healthcare providers who understand their individual needs, allowing for a higher level of care at every point in their lives.

What Is Family Medicine?

Family medicine and primary care are sometimes used interchangeably, but there are several key differences between the two services. Primacy care providers typically treat individual adults. They are responsible for managing a patient’s whole health, including any chronic conditions, with a highly personalized approach to care.

Family medicine physicians, meanwhile, provide care to the whole family. These physicians serve multiple members of a household, including both adults and children. This approach seeks to account for ways that family members’ health may be interconnected. Like primary care providers, they also focus on the whole health of the individual, including chronic conditions. However, family physicians may be present at every stage of a person’s life, from infancy to adulthood.

The Benefits of Family Medicine

Health is not limited to occasional incidents of illness or injury. It is something to be considered and pursued throughout a person’s life. Health concerns are rarely isolated, and a person’s health is heavily influenced by their social environment, circumstances, and family history. Family medicine strives for a more comprehensive approach to care by taking these factors into account. This offers several advantages to patients:

• Holistic approach: Family physicians can address hereditary issues, environmental factors, or other concerns that affect multiple members of a household and are interconnected.
• Empowerment: The holistic approach can also empower parents to be more involved in their children’s healthcare by providing the necessary education and resources.
• Continuity: When patients receive care at the same location throughout their lives, they encounter fewer gaps. This creates better continuity of care and long-term care management.
• Familiarity: Family physicians become familiar with individual patients’ health, helping them address unique needs more effectively than physicians lacking this background.
• Strong relationships: When patients have long-term relationships with their physician, they are more likely to open up about sensitive issues or trust their physician’s advice.
• Support: Family physicians understand how health issues can affect the family, letting them provide emotional support and encouragement after diagnosis or during care.
• Convenience: Family members can make appointments together or coordinate transportation, reducing accessibility barriers and making healthcare more convenient.

All these benefits contribute to a higher quality of care and elevated well-being, not just at isolated moments but throughout a person’s life.

Types of Family Medicine Services

Family medicine at Richmond University Medical Center’s Richmond Health Network encompasses a wide array of services. To deliver effective, comprehensive care, our family physicians take a multidisciplinary approach. They combine expertise from multiple medical specialties to address all aspects of a patient’s health. Our family medicine services include, but are not limited to:

• Newborn and pediatric examinations
• Immunizations
• Routine wellness visits
• Physical examinations for school, insurance, or sports
• Diabetes, cardiovascular, and cancer screenings
• Acute illness treatments
• Chronic illness management
• Recovery and rehabilitation
• Prenatal care
• Maternity care
• Nursing home care referrals
• WIC (women, infants, and children) supplementary nutrition
• Behavioral health
• Patient education

Family medicine is also adaptive, meaning a physician’s approach is tailored to the individual and family they treat. This allows physicians to customize care to address unique needs. Patients of the Richmond Health Network have immediate access and referrals to all of Richmond University Medical Center’s state-of-the-art resources, if needed, to ensure that patients receive the individualized care they need for a high quality of life.

Commitment to Community

Family medicine at Richmond University Medical Center’s Richmond Health Network is one expression of our commitment to the Staten Island community. We are proud to be part of this community and aim to give back by providing the highest level of medical care.

We serve Staten Island with precise diagnoses and top-quality treatments using the latest discoveries in medicine. To us, community health goes beyond simply treating health conditions as they occur. It also encompasses preventative care and education. These can improve a person’s overall health, stopping health issues before they take root. Family medicine plays an important part in achieving these goals, which is why we encourage all households to enroll.

Learn More About Our Family Medicine in Staten Island, NY

Personal well-being is about more than the individual. Take a more holistic approach to health with family medicine at Richmond University Medical Center’s Richmond Health Network. Our experienced and compassionate physicians serve the whole family at every stage of life, taking all factors into account to ensure the highest level of care for each individual and the family overall. Family medicine is offered at various locations throughout Staten Island, NY. Contact us today to learn more or to make an appointment.