Monmouth Business Spotlight: Caruso Foot and Ankle in Freehold

What Monmouth families should know

If you live anywhere from Freehold to Marlboro to Howell, you have probably driven past Dr. Rose Caruso's office without realizing it. Caruso Foot and Ankle is a Monmouth-County-based podiatry practice that has built its reputation the slow way — patient by patient, referral by referral, year after year. Dr. Caruso has been recognized by NJ Top Docs as a 2026 Top Doctor in the field, and her practice is listed with Atlantic Health and accepts most major insurers (NJ Top Docs, Atlantic Health).

The practice moved a few years ago and not every online listing has caught up. The current office is inside the Monmouth Executive Center at 2 Paragon Way, Suite 400, Freehold, NJ 07728 — right off Willow Brook Road near the Freehold DMV. The phone has stayed the same: (732) 366-9866 (Caruso Foot and Ankle).

Why this matters for families

Foot problems are the kind of thing households tend to ignore until a kid limps off the soccer field or a parent's heel hurts every morning. Having a local foot-and-ankle doctor who runs her own small practice — instead of a rotating hospital group — means you see the same person every visit. Dr. Caruso also trained in limb-lengthening and childhood deformities at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics during her residency, which is unusual depth for a community podiatrist and matters if your kid has flat feet, in-toeing, or persistent heel pain like Sever's disease (common in active 8–14-year-olds) (Caruso Foot and Ankle).

What they offer

• General podiatric care — heel pain, plantar fasciitis, ingrown toenails, plantar warts, fungal conditions
• Sports and overuse injuries — stress fractures, Achilles, tendonitis
• Pediatric foot conditions — flat feet, gait concerns, Sever's heel pain, sports complaints in school-age kids
• Diabetic foot care — for parents and grandparents in the household
• Wound treatment including supervision of hyperbaric therapy at Ocean University Medical Center
• On-site digital x-ray with same-visit results (Caruso Foot and Ankle)

How to plan a visit

• Address: 2 Paragon Way, Suite 400, Freehold, NJ 07728 (Monmouth Executive Center, off Willow Brook Road near the Freehold DMV)
• Phone: (732) 366-9866 · Fax: (732) 866-0006
• Hours (by appointment): Mon, Wed, Thu 9:00 – 4:30; Tue 1:15 – 7:30 (working-parent friendly); Fri 9:00 – 3:30 (Caruso Foot and Ankle)
• Parking: on-site, handicapped accessible; pharmacy and physical therapy in the same complex (Caruso Foot and Ankle)
• What to bring: insurance card, photo ID, current meds list, and any prior x-rays. For a child, bring a guardian and the pediatrician's name in case a referral is needed.

Verify before you commit

A few household-friendly checks any family can run before a first appointment with any new medical practice:

• Confirm the current address. Online listings lag — Healthgrades still shows the practice's former Thoreau Drive address even though the office moved to Paragon Way. Call the office or check the practice's own website before you drive (Healthgrades).
• Confirm insurance for this plan year. The practice lists Medicare, Aetna, Cigna, Oscar, Horizon BCBS NJ, Empire BCBS, Horizon Omnia Tier 1, United, Oxford, Multiplan, Humana, MagnaCare, Amerihealth NJ, Qualcare, and Emblem — but verify by phone (Caruso Foot and Ankle).
• Ask about after-hours. If your kid's foot swells up Saturday morning, is there an on-call line, an answering service, or just urgent care?
• Verify the doctor's license. Look up any NJ medical professional in seconds at the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs verification portal (NJ DCA License Verification).
• Read recent reviews — not just star totals. Yelp shows 5.0 across 11 reviews as of June 2026 (Yelp); look at comment substance, not just the average.

Local resources

• 2-1-1 NJ — dial 211 for free, multilingual help with healthcare, transportation, food, and family services
• Monmouth County OEM: (732) 431-7400 — alerts and preparedness
• NJ Division of Consumer Affairs license verification: newjersey.mylicense.com/verification
• NJ Department of Health — Office of Licensing oversees facility-level licensing for ambulatory care (NJ DOH)
• NJ Top Docs: njtopdocs.com — a peer-reviewed starting point, not a substitute for your own due diligence

How Love of Humanity helps

Love of Humanity is a Monmouth-County 501(c)(3) building free, plain-language family education — heating bills, storm prep, vetting a contractor or a healthcare provider. Our Business Spotlight series is independent and no-fee: write-ups of local practices families should know about, paired with the safety questions worth asking before you commit. Our partner network co-brands free monthly education with Monmouth-County businesses, educators, and community organizations. No cost to be featured, no cost to read.