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Mayor Adams makes three-point plan to aid
hospitals amid the ongoing COVID-19 surge
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | JAN. 14 - JAN. 20, 2022 13
BY DEAN MOSES
Mayor Eric Adams made
a trip to Elmhurst Hospital
— the original COVID-19 epicenter
of the city’s pandemic
— last week to outline a new
program assisting medical
centers treating the influx of
sick patients.
Hizzoner unfolded a threepoint
plan that will aid hospitals
with the resources they
need to weather the surge in
COVID-19 cases. “Often we
forget about the ‘safety net
hospitals.’ They play a vital
role in ensuring that there is
a net that people can safely
know they’re not going to fall
through the system,” Adams
said. Speaking to a room brimming
with elected officials
and medical staff, Adams and
health leaders also provided
a rundown on the positivity
rates the city is seeing, which
suggest that the omicron variant
fueled uptick in COVID-19
cases isn’t about to slow down
just yet.
“The data that we’re seeing,
which is cases are increasing
and hospitalizations are increasing
— I expect that that
will continue in the near term,
meaning the next 10 days or
two weeks. What we’re looking
for is a deceleration in the
rate of growth. And we’re not
seeing that yet. But that’s what
I’m looking for in the data for
us to be able to say that we may
be approaching the peak in the
coming weeks,” said Dr. Dave
A. Chokshi, commissioner of
the New York City Department
of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Dr. Chokshi stated that the
tracking showcased a steep
increase in positive rates over
the last week of December, but
in recent days he has noticed
positivity rates “leveling off.”
He explained that it is too early
to tell if this leveling off is
due to holiday testing patterns
or a reprieve. In order to combat
the virus, he urged individuals
to get vaccinated and
boosted, wash their hands,
and wear a higher quality of
masks. He does recommend
cloth masks, and emphasized
surgical masks and other
higher-grade face coverings
should now be used.
The surge of COVID-19 cases
has also once again caused a
dangerous healthcare worker
to patient ratio, leaving many
facilities shorthanded.
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention reports
that as of Dec. 30, 2021,
the number of health care
workers who had contracted
COVID-19 doubled to 803,454,
and 3,063 had died from the
virus. This has resulted in
dangerous staffing conditions
for nurses and other medical
personnel.
“I saw it last night when
I was at Woodhull Hospital
with other medical professionals
and how much they’re
going through: they were energized
to help people to get
through this period. And our
healthcare heroes have been
working long hours, countless
number of days, times away
from their family, but they
were committed and dedicated
and they’re clear we are going
to beat back COVID. We’re not
going to succumb or allow our
lives to be defined by COVID.
We’re going to be stronger
than ever when we cycle out of
this period,” Adams said.
With the increase in rates,
hospitals are seeing a reduction
in their staff as they
quarantine to help stop the
spread. In light of this, Adams
announced a corporate
partnership with Goldman
Sachs that will provide $33
million in funds to safety net
hospitals, such as Elmhurst
in Queens and Brookdale in
Brooklyn. This allows these
facilities that are in need of
money to attain the resources
needed so that they can make
critical investments. While
much of this will be reimbursable
by FEMA, the immediate
funds allow for staffing and
equipment to be paid for immediately.
The program named the
New York City COVID-19 hospital
loan fund will aid frontline
hospitals in the NYC
Health and Hospitals network
by providing salaries, protective
equipment, testing,
vaccine administration and
distribution. Adams added
that so far these loans have
already funded over 22,400
safety net hospital staff members
that have served over
26,000 patients. The money is
said to be placed in a “hospital
pool” and utilized to meet
the demands of taking care of
patients. The funds were most
recently used in Coney Island
Hospital — which was noted at
the press conference to have
been hit the hardest first due
to the large number of elderly
residents — to hire nurses and
additional staff.
Adams commended Goldman
Sachs on their effort and
called upon other financial
institutions to take the same
steps and not just applaud
medical facilities but support
them.
In addition to the hospital
loan, the mayor has allocated
the immediate use of $111 million
for Health + Hospitals to
hire nurses, utilize additional
providers and supply support
staff. According to NYC
Health + Hospitals President
and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Mitchell Katz, members of
City Hall will work together to
get as much of this reimbursed
by FEMA since the money is
considered budget neutral and
was previously allocated for
this year’s fiscal budget. Katz
stressed that this money will
provide immediate help with
the severe staffing shortages
medical facilities are currently
facing.
“We know about the staffing
issues that we are facing
finding the dollars in the
money to ensure that we maintain
proper staffing in our
hospitals. This is crucial and
we’re going to do everything
possible to ensure this pumpup
baseline staffing including
doctors, nurses, medical
technicians and support rookies
and it would increase the
overall COVID capacity and
how we respond though. Expand
staffing and support at
the Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene part of our
ongoing COVID-19 Response
Plan,” Adams said.
Mayor Eric Adams visited Elmhurst Hospital on Jan. 5 to announce a three-point plan combatting
COVID-19. Photo by Dean Moses
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