Rehabilitation Medicine

ColumbiaDoctors pediatric rehabilitation specialists are leading experts in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of congenital and childhood physical impairments. We aim to help young patients with special needs become as independent as possible as they move from infancy to adulthood.

Pediatric rehabilitation doctors are called physiatrists (pronounced fizzy-a-trists). Our early intervention often improves the child’s general ability to function and prevents or delays the need for surgery. Because most of our young patients require care over many years, we tailor treatments to their developmental curve.

Our team is known for a comprehensive approach to diseases such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, neuromuscular disorders, and traumatic injuries to the brain and spinal cord. Physiatrists collaborate with nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, and psychologists to offer the best family-centered care.

Our innovative treatment approaches include the use of botulinum toxin injections to manage drooling and spasticity, as well as intrathecal baclofen pumps to deliver medication directly to the spinal cord. We are also known for expertise in dystonia (uncontrollable muscle spasms), serial casting and orthotics, adaptive equipment, and noninvasive pulmonary rehabilitation for neuromuscular disorders.

We offer one of the few pediatric rehabilitation fellowships in the nation and train future physiatrists to care for children with special needs.

Pioneers in an Emerging Field

As experts in physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), our pediatric physiatrists are leaders in the care of children with neuromuscular and musculoskeletal conditions.

Hana Azizi, MD, serves as the director of pediatric PM&R and is based at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center main campus and the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York. Elisabeth Bates, a pediatric nurse practitioner, collaborates closely with physicians in our department to provide seamless care to children. Our team members also work with the Weinberg Family Cerebral Palsy Center at Columbia and collaborate closely with other physicians and services offered through that center.

Amy Tenaglia, MD, is based at Blythedale Children’s Hospital, in Valhalla, NY, where she cares for children hospitalized for disabling conditions. She sees outpatients at the ColumbiaDoctors site at 15 North Broadway, White Plains, NY.

Partnerships

Our doctors collaborate with Blythedale Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, NY, to provide in-patient rehabilitation and the full continuum of rehabilitation care.