Newswise — March 11, 2013 – K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital at Jersey Shore is expanding its surgical services with the opening of Meridian Health Pediatric Surgical Associates in Ocean County, an outpatient center dedicated to providing the region’s children with a comprehensive, child-friendly and family-oriented surgical program. As the only pediatric surgery office in the southern New Jersey area, families will have access to pediatric surgical experts from Meridian Pediatric Network, the largest provider of pediatric care in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

Pediatric Surgical Associates, affiliated with K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital, is staffed by Saad A. Saad, M.D., FACS, FAAP, and Ahmed G. Mami, M.D., and provides high quality surgical services to pediatric patients. The new office is located at 730 Lacey Road (Suite G-09) in Forked River, New Jersey. Appointments can be made by calling 609.549.0258.

Dr. Saad, pediatric surgeon in chief & medical co-director of K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital, is an experienced clinician, researcher and teacher and has been a practicing board-certified pediatric surgeon for almost 30 years, spending the past 19 years in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Known for his surgical innovation, Dr. Saad has developed many new techniques in hernia laparoscopy, perforation of the esophagus, tracheal stenosis repairs, and grafts to repair eventration of the diaphragm. Dr. Ahmed Mami, a pediatric surgeon at K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital, focuses on general pediatric surgical intervention and caring for children with vascular malformations. He specializes in laparoscopic surgery. Dr. Mami completed fellowships at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, Alfred I. Dupont Institute in Wilmington, Delaware and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, located in Pennsylvania. He has been affiliated with K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital for the past two years.

Dr. Saad comments, “With the opening of the satellite office in Forked River, parents and children have access to surgical expertise in a convenient and comfortable location near their home. Dr. Mami and I look forward to caring for southern New Jersey’s children, and ensuring they receive the best surgical care available.”

About K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital at Jersey Shore University Medical Center: Jersey Shore University Medical Center, a member of the Meridian Health family, is a not-for-profit teaching hospital and home to K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital – the first children’s hospital in Monmouth and Ocean counties. With more than 100 specialists, K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital is the largest provider of pediatric care in Monmouth and Ocean counties and the heart of Meridian Pediatric Network. Jersey Shore is the regional provider of cardiac surgery, a program which has been ranked among the best in the Northeast, and is home to the only trauma center and stroke rescue center in the region. Jersey Shore University Medical Center specializes in cardiovascular care, orthopedics and rehabilitation, cancer care, neuroscience, and women’s specialty services. For more information about K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, call 1-800-DOCTORS, or visit www.khovnanianchildrenshospital.com.