Dr. Saul Melman, MD

I brought my ill mother, age 74, into the emergency room at Long Island College Hospital recently. My mother had a high fever , a cough and difficulty breathing. Dr. Saul Melman approached my mother's bed introduced himself in a calm direct manner to me - i was standing at the bedside- and to my mother who had difficulty hearing Doctor Melman partly because he spoke in a quiet tone but also because my mother has difficulty hearing out of her left ear and she was lying down in the bed. To my pleasant surprise Dr. Melman put the side bed handrail down and then set down on the bed near my mother's feet and repeated his introduction to my mother who now heard him. It was clear to me that his physical closer physical presence to my mother also put her at greater ease. Dr. Melman talked with and examined my mother for at least 10 minutes - a long time in a busy emergency room. Approximately four hours after arrival to the ER, my mother was admitted upstairs in the hospital with the diagnosis of pneumonia. By that time she was well on her way to being cured of the potentially life threatening infection by Dr. Melman's early identification of the pneumonia, quick treatment with antibiotics and perhaps equally important - a strong dose of empathy and humanistic caring. The nursing staff was polite and helpful. I would definitely go back to LICH for continued care in the ER - if god forbid I needed it - and I would ask for Dr. Melman.