New London ― Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital has opened its eighth Pediatric Specialty Center ― and first in New London County ― in the Shaw’s Cove complex off Howard Street, providing care in such specialties as gastroenterology, immunology and endocrinology.

If the history of the hospital’s other specialty centers is any indication, the number of specialties offered at the 3 Shaw’s Cove facility will increase rapidly.

“I expect it will triple in the first year,” said Dr. Arik Alper, a pediatric gastroenterologist. “In Old Saybrook, we started with three or four (doctors) and now there’s no space.”

Alper, who will spend much of his time at the New London facility, said the children’s hospital’s commitment to specialty centers reflects a general shift in medicine to specialty medicine. At the outset, Alper will be joined at the facility by Dr. Kelly Joseph, a pediatric endocrinologist; Dr. Kelsey Kaman, a pediatric allergist and immunologist; and Joanna Samoskevich, an advanced practice registered nurse.

“I feel like the deeper the specialty of the physician, the better the level of care,” Alper said. “But because you need more specialized care, doesn’t mean you have to travel three hours. Sometimes you have to compromise ― sometimes you use Google or go on social media, we all do some of that …”

“I do feel there is a need to bring a higher level of specialty care closer to the patient,” he said.

In addition to New London and Old Saybrook, Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, the top-ranked children’s hospital in the state, according to U.S. News & World Report, also operates specialty centers in Greenwich, Norwalk and Trumbull and three in New Haven.

“We found a large number of people were coming from the New London area (to the specialty centers in Old Saybrook and New Haven),” providing the impetus for the Shaw’s Cove facility, Kim Trotta, the children’s hospital’s pediatric service manager, said. “Geographically, this eliminates a long drive for them.”

She said long-standing plans to open the Shaw’s Cove facility had been temporarily derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Shaw’s Cove location also is considered advantageous because of its close proximity to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, part of the Yale New Haven Health system, where medical tests and blood work can be performed, when necessary.

“One of the many great benefits of our affiliation with Yale New Haven Health has been the ability to bring pediatric specialists to New London,” Dr. Oliver Mayorga, L+M’s chief medical officer, said during a June 27 ribbon-cutting ceremony at 3 Shaw’s Cove. “This new Pediatric Specialty Center will greatly benefit our patients and families and referring providers in this region. This will make care more accessible and closer to home.”

In most cases, Alper said, patients seen at the new facility will be referred there by a pediatrician or a subspecialist when a patient hasn’t responded to a first level of therapy “or there are red flags.”

Patients as old as 21 and in some cases older will be seen at the center, Alper said.

The 2,250-square-foot facility has four brightly colored examining rooms, a procedure room and a child-friendly waiting room. It’s located next door to Northeast Medical Group’s Coastal Ob Gyn and Midwifery practice. NEMG’s Walk-In Medical Center at 195 Howard St., which provides non-emergency care to children and adults, is nearby.

The center is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com