Adequate care lacking for Afro-American, Hispanic communities
By Gerry Hopkin
Brooklyn, NYC; April 5,
2020 — According to reliable
sources, African-American
and Hispanic COVID-19
patients in some Brooklyn
hospitals are not receiving
adequate care due to the
inattention of some doctors
who have not been aggressively
caring for these
patients, many of whom are
intubated and dependent on
ventilators, and whose care
should be closely managed
by physicians, especially
given the novel nature of
the Coronavirus and its
associated complications.
COMPLAINTS
REGARDING
HOSPITAL
MANAGEMENT
OF SUPPLY OF
PROTECTIVE GEAR
Nurses have complained
that despite the much
appreciated local procurement
efforts and appeals
to the Federal Government,
by New York State
Governor, Andrew Cuomo,
and to a lesser extent, by
Mayor Bill di Blasio, most
caregivers — doctors and
nurses — did not initially
have adequate personal protective
equipment provided
to them by management.
Currently, most attending
doctors and residents have
the needed PPE, but many
are still not going into the
patients’ rooms for fear of
COVID-19. This is happening
even on days when doctors
collect the PPE provided
by the hospitals.
Because hospitals are
overwhelmed, sick patients
are being sent home and
many are dying. If they survive
Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
George Alleyne, Nelson King,
Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
GENERAL INFORMATION (718) 260-2500
Caribbean L 10 ife, April 10-16, 2020
a bit longer at home,
they are returning to the
hospital sicker and are then
admitted to the hospital in
worse condition than when
they had initially sought
attention.
EXERCISE DUE
DILIGENCE
IN ENSURING
REASONABLE
PATIENT CARE
Patients who are admitted
and have not been intubated,
would be well-advised to
text their relatives at home
to let them know the name
of the attending and resident
doctors that they are
assigned to, and to later text
again when they actually
get to be examined/treated
by the said doctors. Regular
updates should be given to
relatives by patients, so that
their care or lack thereof,
can be tracked, considering
that hospitals are not
allowing visitors to come to
the hospitals at this time.
As such, patient advocacy is
severely limited, especially
among vulnerable African-
American and Hispanic
COVID-19 patients.
The patients who are
intubated and unable to call
and/or text their relatives
are the ones who are suffering
the most as they code
and die at a tremendously
fast rate. Therefore, families
will need to identify the
doctors who are caring for
their loved ones and speak
to them via telephone to
get some kind of regular
assessment of the condition
of their loved ones. This is
the best that a family or
friend can do to monitor
the care being provided to
their loved ones. Since families
and friends cannot go
to the hospital to directly
monitor their sick relative,
this would be the best available
alternative. Hospitals,
currently do need to make
some accommodations for
this vulnerable community.
REGARDING
THE WELLBEING
OF DOCTORS &
NURSES
It is also imperative that
hospital administrators do
their best to provide doctors
and nurses with adequate protective
equipment. This will
limit doctors and nurses having
to treat multiple patients,
some who are known or suspected
to be COVID-19 positive
and others who are admitted
for non-COVID-19 related
illnesses, with the same gear
on. This would help to prevent
non-COVID-19 patients
from getting exposed through
doctors and nurses. Correspondingly,
patients would
also have more peace of mind
if this proper protocol can be
routinely exercised by doctors
and nurses, even with limited
protective equipment.
Correspondingly, patients
would also have more peace
of mind if this proper protocol
can be routinely exercised
by doctors and nurses.
As it stands, compliance
to proper protocol here, is
simply contingent on availability
of supplies, which
are still only arriving in
drips, and is thus far, not
sufficient to meet anticipated
future needs given
the current and increasing
number of cases. This supply
deficit is primarily due
to an absent-minded leader
in the White House who
waited too long to acknowledge
the lethal magnitude
of this CoronaVirus, and is
still not fully invoking the
powers he has to respond
to this crisis, as he remains
out of sync with the realities
on the ground in states
like New York, New Jersey
and Louisiana.
Together, we can overcome
this Coronavirus, but
we must all responsibly do
our part by observing all
of the guidelines regarding
regular washing of hands,
social distancing, wearing
of masks, staying indoors
and honoring the established
quarantine protocol
(which I believe should be
a stricter, supervised, isolated
one). Additionally, as
we advocate for the provision
of adequate protective
gear and better workplace
conditions for our healthcare
workers, we must also
insist on best practices, in
the delivery of care for all
of our patients, regardless
of the community in which
a hospital is located, or the
race, ethnicity and class
of a patient. And in this
regard, officials in hospital
management teams, the
city, the state and the federal
government, all have
important irreplaceable
roles to play.
HELPFUL CONTACT
INFORMATION
Here is a list of some of
the Brooklyn area hospitals
in predominantly Black /
Hispanic neighborhoods:
Brookdale Hospital Medical
Center
1 Brookdale Plaza
Brooklyn, NY 11212
T: 718-240-5893
Kingsbrook Jewish Medical
Center
585 Schenectady Ave.
Brooklyn, NY
T: 718-604-5000
Interfaith Medical Center
1545 Atlantic Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11213
T: 718-613-4000
Kings County Hospital
Center
451 Clarkson Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11207
T: 718-245-3131
Woodhull Medical & Mental
Health Center
760 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY 11206
T: 718-963-8000
Wyckoff Heights Medical
Center
374 Stockholm St.
Brooklyn, NY 11237
T: 718-963-7272
Brooklyn Hospital Center
121 Dekalb Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
T: 718-250-8000
Gerry Hopkin, JD is a
community organizer, consultant
in communications,
politics and law, based in
the 40th Councilmanic District
of Brooklyn, NYC.
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