Protest group calls for more hospital beds in Queens
BY DEAN MOSES
Queens protest group Rise
and Resist traveled to Manhattan
on the afternoon of Monday,
Feb. 15, to rally outside
of Lenox Hill Hospital, where
chants of “Queens needs hospital
beds!” echoed around
the East 77th Street just outside
of the Northwell Healthaffiliated
facility.
The group of about 20 individuals
is raising awareness
for what they call “medical
tourism,” a practice in which
the wealthy travel to receive
the best possible medical
care. They claim this custom
helps fund already well-financed
facilities while leaving
low-income neighborhoods
unsupported.
It is with this in mind they
are denouncing the creation
of a tower that will increase
capacity at Lenox Hill Hospital,
believing that these funds
should be used toward hospitals
in the outer boroughs,
such as Long Island Jewish
Hospital, since Queens has the
lowest bed capacity with the
largest population.
Standing beside a gigantic
banner reading, “Beds not
body bags,” Leon Kirschner, a
healthcare worker from Jackson
Heights and a member of
Rise and Resist told Schneps
Media that Manhattan has
1.6 million residents and 21
hospitals with 6.4 beds per
thousand people. By contrast,
Queens has 2.4 million residents,
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.10 COM | FEB. 19-FEB. 25, 2021
but only eight hospitals
and 1.5 beds per thousand people.
Kirschner says that after
four protests in Queens, he is
taking the fight to Manhattan
after learning of the proposed
tower at Lenox Hill Hospital,
while he states that Queens
residents die without having
access to a hospital bed.
Kirschner describes Lenox
Hill Hospital as a luxurious
location attracting “medical
tourism” due to their top quality
practitioners and innovative
medical work.
“So people who have wealth
in countries that might not
have a good medical system
or may not have the access
will come here from different
places to get that luxury care,”
Kirschner said.
Kirschner’s grievance
with this aspect is the claim
that while “medical tourism”
brings in private insurance
and cash, those in low-income
areas and outer boroughs such
as Queens sufferer since their
Medicaid reimbursement is
less valued. Based on this reasoning,
Kirschner believes
Northwell would rather invest
in a Manhattan-based hospital
rather than hospitals in
Queens or Staten Island. During
the height of the pandemic,
Kirschner would travel to various
areas throughout his native
Queens to document the effects
of the pandemic. He recalls
many of the Queens-based hospitals
that are a part of Northwell
network to be the hardest
hit and most devastating to see.
“Their refrigerator trucks
were so overfilled at that point
that you can see inside of the
trucks from the apartment
buildings and everything
around the neighborhood. It
was really a horrifying sight.
So when we found out when
Northwell intended to build a
tower with individual rooms
for a luxury hospital, for medical
tourism — rather than
invest in their Staten Island
hospitals, Maimonides in
Brooklyn and LIJ in Queens
— they are putting a million
dollars into creating a private
hospital for rich people to
come to for medical tourism.
It’s horrifying. It’s the idea
that they can’t spend on what’s
needed now,” Kirschner said.
After reaching out to Lenox
Hill Hospital for comment, the
institution expressed their
disappointment in the protest
through a statement provided
to Schneps Media.
“It is unfortunate that this
protest purposely ignores the
great investments Northwell
Health has made in underserved
communities across
the city. In Queens alone, we
have four hospitals and dozens
of ambulatory sites that are
treating and caring for residents
from all neighborhoods
around the borough. We will
always continue to strengthen
those infrastructures and
increase the quality of care
to those communities,” the
statement read.
According to the statement,
Northwell Health also has been
working tirelessly to aid all individuals
in need, including
communities of color, which
have been disproportionately
affected by the ravages of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
“Additionally, throughout
the pandemic, Northwell has
partnered with more than
100 faith-based and community
leaders which has led to
impactful, lifesaving actions
in underserved Black and Latino
communities that were
disproportionately impacted
by COVID-19. We’ve conducted
85,000 COVID-19 tests and vaccinated
6,000 of these community
members over the past
year alone. Northwell also
has proudly partnered with
hospitals across the five boroughs
to assist with managing
surge capacity during the recent
uptick in COVID-19 cases
citywide. We have helped with
their planning and have made
beds available to any hospital
outside our system as part of
an effort to ‘load balance’ patients
— another example of
our mission to ensure quality
care for everyone who seeks it,
regardless of where they are
from or their ability to pay.”
A heavy NYPD presence
observed the rally until the
group disbanded over an hour.
No arrests were made.
Protesters called for more hospital beds in Queens during a rally in Manhattan on Monday, Feb. 15.
Photo by Dean Moses
Leon Kirschner displays a sign with hospital bed statistics.
Photo by Dean Moses Protesters chanted for aid in Queens. Photo by Dean Moses