Elmhurst Hospital frontline workers
honored for heroism during pandemic
BY ALEJANDRA O'CONNELLDOMENECH
Mayor Bill de Blasio and
first lady Chirlane McCray
are launching a new initiative
to help the mental health
of young people living in
neighborhoods most heavily
impacted by the coronavirus
pandemic.
“Now, more than ever, we
want all of our students to
know that they are not alone,
and there are compassionate,
trained professionals
ready to help them process
anxiety, grief and trauma
that have intensified during
the pandemic,” said McCray.
The new initiative comes
a day after Governor Andrew
Cuomo addressed rising
mental health concerns
stemming from the pandemic
telling reporters that “we
have a serious problem of the
emotional stress and anxiety
that COVID has caused,
and the longer it goes on the
worst it gets.”
Governor Cuomo admitted
that at first, he did not
fully understand the expression
“COVID fatigue,” mistakenly
believing it referred
to growing tired of wearing
face masks or maintaining
social distance. “To that
I said, you don’t have the
luxury of fatigue because
the virus isn’t fatigued …
but there are different facets
to fatigue that are frankly
more problematic.”
The pandemic has pushed
325,000 children into poverty
across New York state and
4,200 children have lost a parent
or caregiver to the virus,
according to a report from
the United Hospital Fund.
The report found that the virus
has had a disproportionate
effect on communities of
color with Black and brown
children having lost parents
to COVID at twice the rate of
white children. Stress over
increased food insecurity as
well as isolation and loss of
routine are also negatively
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.22 COM | OCT. 30-NOV. 5, 2020
impacting children’s mental
health during the pandemic,
according to Alice Bufkin,
director of child advocacy
group the Citizens Committee
on Children’s Policy Director.
The organization works
with dozens of child psychiatrists
in the city, many of
whom are growing increasingly
worried over the high
number of families seeking
mental health services for
their children during the
pandemic and the intensity
of their symptoms.
Although Bufkin is appreciative
of the mayor’s
initiative, she thinks that
more long-term investment
is needed from the city and
state in order to allow for
communities to fully mentally
recover from COVID.
“When mental health
care needs go unaddressed
in childhood, we see them
get frequently exacerbated
as children become adults,”
Bufkin said.
Under the initiative,
current city mental health
workers will become specialists
and lead group therapy
sessions with students at 350
schools.
Specialists will serve up
to five schools and will also
educate students and their
caregivers.
BY BILL PARRY
For three harrowing weeks beginning
in late March, Elmhurst Hospital
Center became known as the epicenter
of the COVID-19 pandemic in Queens
as its emergency rooms were overwhelmed
with patients suffering from
coronavirus. In one 24-hour period, 13
patients died and within days refrigerated
trucks were parked outside the
facility to handle the dead.
The doctors, nurses, and staff who
served on the front-lines and displayed
“heroism and humanity” during
that dark period were honored
with a $100,000 grant from the Aurora
Humanitarian Initiative which was
founded on behalf of survivors of the
Armenian Genocide in gratitude to
their saviors.
As Elmhurst Hospital Center passes
the seven-month mark of the COVID-
19 crisis and plans for the future, the
grant will provide assistance to its
teams as they focus on community
outreach programs, chronic disease
education, and other initiatives that
will help strengthen the health of the
surrounding neighborhoods which include
the most ethnically diverse and
economically challenged immigrant
communities in the country.
“On behalf of all our frontline staff
at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, I
would like to express our deepest gratitude
to Aurora for this generous gift
that will help us build stronger programs
to combat COVID-19 and other
special pathogens,” Vice President of
NYC Health + Hospitals and CEO of
Elmhurst and Queens Hospitals Israel
Rocha said.
The grant was presented Monday,
Oct. 19, as part of a virtual event broadcast
live as part of the “Gratitude in
Action” series marking the fifth anniversary
of the Aurora Humanitarian
Initiative. An event series that raises
funds around the globe to help continue
the efforts of the Aurora Prize Laureates
and the community of unsung
heroes putting themselves at risk to
save others.
“When it comes to battling a global
pandemic, there are many frontlines
and frontline heroes,” Aurora Humanitarian
Initiative Co-Founder Noubar
Efeyan said. “We pay tribute to the
New York City heroes who have fought
valiantly to bring health and healing
to those battling COVID-19. On behalf
of all of us, I extend my appreciation to
the health sector heroes at Elmhurst
Hospital. We applaud your bravery and
your commitment to your patients.”
The origins of Elmhurst Hospital
can be traced back to the mid-1800s
and an institution known as City Hospital.
Built to serve the poor, it was
New York’s second-oldest municipal
hospital.
Today, It serves an area of more
than 2.4 million people from 112 countries
around the world who have chosen
to call Queens home.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail
at bparry@schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
Courtesy of Elmhurst Hospital
Mayor Bill de Blasio Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Offi ce
City launches mental health initiative
to help students during the pandemic
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