by Anusha Shrivastava

One of the many factors that give Roosevelt Island a special small-town feel is the medical practitioners who live and practice here. Doctors Katherine Teets Grimm, Jack Resnick and Lawrence Itskowitch have offices in Rivercross while Dr. James Flannigan, the most recent addition to the pack, has one on Main Street.

Doctor Grimm

Dr. Katherine Teets Grimm has been living in Rivercross since the summer of 1987. She was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, but her family moved to Colorado when she was eight years old as she suffered from severe asthma. "We lived in the Rockies until I turned thirteen. We returned to New Jersey and I entered medical school in the 60s," said Dr. Grimm. She attended Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, then Rutgers in New Jersey. The last two years of her training were at Mount Sinai, where the department head encouraged her to pursue further studies at Johns Hopkins. She spent two years there, on the faculty and in charge of pediatric emergency.

"I debated between internal medicine and pediatrics but chose pediatrics because I enjoyed working with kids and believed in preventive medicine. For instance, a lot of cardio-vascular diseases have roots in the lifestyle of adolescent years," said Dr. Grimm.

Moving to Mt. Sinai as a full-time employee, Dr. Grimm has served as Vice-President of pediatrics and as the medical director of the Children's Advocacy Center, which evaluates and treats abused children, since 1997. "I spend 50% of my time in this practice but none of the jobs take up just 50% of my time," says Dr. Grimm. "I wear many hats. I am a Board-certified allergist, too. My work with child abuse started as part of the territory of being in the emergency room. Many children were brought in as a result of inflicted injuries."

"Parenting is tough," she admits. "If I see that there is abuse or neglect, I have a legal and moral responsibility to report it. I work with the system and ensure that the family gets the support it needs. Most parents don't want to be neglectful but may not know how to handle the situation."

"I am an easy-going pediatrician," says Dr. Grimm. "Parents today are well-informed and have opinions in terms of medicine. Many families on the Island are into alternative medicine and do not want antibiotics for their children. I try to work with them. Some families are against immunization, but I think that is because they have not seen the damage that can be done. I give parents my opinion and try to be supportive, unless I believe they are endangering the child's welfare."

Two issues that all mothers of toddlers grapple with are toilet-training and feeding. "Toilet-training is a developmental stage, and becomes a non-issue down the line, so I think a relaxed attitude is best," advises Dr. Grimm. As for diet, she says parents often agonize over picky eaters. "I suggest that they should present an array of foods to the child. Some parents give high-calorie foods to the child, thinking that some calories are better than none, but that is not correct as it becomes a problem later on. I think it is important to instill healthy eating habits right from the beginning. Also, never forget that kids like to see their parents upset. It becomes a sport for them, so try to remain calm. Of course, there is no 'right way' to do things and, in any case, the 'right way' is always hard to implement. Having your own kids makes you a humble pediatrician," admits Dr. Grimm. "My son, Joshua, didn't eat fruit, not even apple sauce, when he was a baby."

She may claim that she is easy-going, but Dr. Grimm did not keep soda at home until her two children, Joanne, 18, and Joshua, 15, grew up. Also, there was no television until Joshua turned 12 years old. "I found their behavior was worse after watching television because they had gotten no exercise, so I stuck the TV in the closet. That doesn't mean he likes it any less than other teenagers, though," she says.

Dr. Grimm meets over 1500 children through her practice on the Island. "I meet kids who are zero to 23 years old," says Dr. Grimm. "It is a very special practice because I meet people from different socio-economic groups and can do home visits if required. However, I avoid that because a home is a safe haven for a child and I do not like doing traumatic things to them at home. Adults understand, but for a child, it is tough to comprehend why these things are being done. Also, the lighting in many apartments is not good so I cannot see rashes clearly."

Doctor Resnick

Dr. Jack Resnick, the internal medicine doctor, primarily does home visits. "I mostly meet disabled and seniors, so it is simpler to meet them at home. I have to carry everything with me but I learn a lot more about the patient at his or her home," says Dr. Resnick. "I see the environment, whether the refrigerator is well-stocked or not, whether an asthmatic's home is dusty and if there are loose rugs that can be potentially dangerous."

Dr. Resnick was born in Germany, but his family moved to Brooklyn when he was two years old. He has lived in New York since then, and attended Yeshiva University High School, Brooklyn College and New York University. He moved to Rochester briefly for his specialization. "In 1977, I came to Roosevelt Island for the first time. My job interview for a group practice on York and 66th was held in Rivercross," reminisces Dr. Resnick. "I worked in several group practices before deciding to work on the Island full-time in 1997."

"The Island was a wonderful dream in the '70s," says Dr. Resnick. "Some of it came true. We had no institutions back then. We had to build our own social-support structures like the Day Nursery and the theater. There was no newspaper. One day something was wrong with the Tram and no one knew what had happened, so a group of people decided to start a paper. I was part of it and found that, for the first five years, a lot of people volunteered to work for it. Then, the feeling waned, but now I see it coming back again."

The doctor has 841 patients on his current list and says he can't take long vacations because he has a solo practice. "I had a lot of trepidation about being the doctor of a place where I lived, but it worked out well and this is the best medical practice I have been in. It is a very unusual population and no other doctor I know gets to do what I do. However, we need more people so we can have more doctors. For instance, we need a radiologist and an X-ray machine. The current population cannot support that. If the Island reaches 20,000 people, we will have better services," says Dr. Resnick.

Dr. Resnick reads a lot and enjoys traveling but does not manage to get away too often. He has four boys, all of whom grew up on the Island and started their schooling in PS/IS 217. The older two are 25 and 22 years old and attend medical school, while the two younger ones are 16 year old twins who are in 10th grade. He separated from his wife recently and moved off-Island.

Doctor Itskowitch

When you first catch sight of Dr. Lawrence Itskowitch emerging from his room, he may be wearing a pair of glasses that might scare you, but as you sit down to talk to him, he turns out to be a friendly soul. The 28th resident in Rivercross, the dentist grew up in downtown Manhattan and attended City College as an undergraduate, then New York University for his dental degree.

"I had a fellowship at Goldwater Hospital, and a friend of mine used to drop me off in the middle of the 59th Street bridge where I went into a hole to reach the Island," said Dr. Itskowitch, referring to the elevator that existed before the Tram became operational.

"I went into service in Vietnam in 1968 and, when I came back, I came to visit some friends at the hospital. That's when I noticed all these empty buildings and thought of starting a practice here. This place was fantastic. I felt as if I had the whole place to myself. I could choose the tennis court I wanted to play on. There were no parking problems. For the first five years, at the New Year's party, everyone knew everyone else. When someone new came, it was an event," he recalls. "There were no stores - nothing, zero - it was great. Now it has become more like Manhattan. There are more people but less of a community," laments Dr. Itskowitch. "Even so, it was a great decision to move here. My wife and I raised three sons here. Two are out of the nest and the third just graduated from college."

He says he enjoys the diversified practice and the fact that he gets to meet people from all over the world. "I have never been to Egypt, but I think I know a lot about it through my patients."

Doctor Flannigan

The chiropractor, Dr. James Flannigan, came to Roosevelt Island looking for an apartment in the summer of 1999 and noticed the lack of a chiropractic service. He didn't find an apartment here, but decided to start a practice, nevertheless. Born in New York, Flannigan went to St. John's for his undergraduate degree in biology, and then to the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic. He practiced in Southern California for eight years before moving back to the East Coast. "I love the City, but the weather kept me away," he admits.

"I don't use any drugs in my practice," says Dr. Flannigan. "My aim is to remove nerve interference in the body. I treat extremities and help older people with balance. I can help colicky children who may have problems with bone alignment. Also, I can help if a child has an ear infection."

Some people are skeptical about the efficacy of chiropractic services, but if you talk to Damon La Scot and his bride, Jo Hook, who visit Dr. Flannigan every month, you might change your mind. Jo, a personal trainer, said that going to Dr. Flannigan was like "ensuring skeletal maintenance just as one would for one's hair and nails." Damon, a musician and athlete, swears by chiropractics in general and Dr. Flannigan in particular. "My repetitive-movement injuries get cured here. I don't believe in western medicine, which gives you a pill for everything. If a pill didn't make you ill, why should it make you better?"

Dr. Flannigan's fledgling practice is growing through word-of-mouth. "I have patients who range in age from two to 90. I see a lot more cases here that are varied in need than any other population. This is a very special place," says Dr. Flannigan.