Your Neighborhood — Your News®
THE NEWSPAPER OF FLUSHING, AUBURNDALE, KEW GARDENS HILLS & FRESH MEADOWS
75 cents
GET THE LATEST NEWS EVERY DAY AT QNS.COM
May 1-7, 2020
Bayside children’s hospital meets
challenges during COVID-19 pandemic
BY JACOB KAYE
St. Mary’s Hospital for Children
in Bayside is home to a
vulnerable population – one
that might be disproportionately
affected by the coronavirus
should they become infected.
But early on, St. Mary’s leadership
took extreme precaution
and instituted a handful of measures
to help keep its staff and
vulnerable children safe.
“We have some very, very
sick children in the facility,”
said Dr. Edwin F. Simpser, CEO
and president of St. Mary’s.
“We’ve been working very diligently
to protect those kids from
getting COVID-19. And so far,
we’ve been quite successful.”
The hospital, which cares
for children who are recovering
or rehabilitating from complex
medical conditions, was
in position to meet the crisis
head on, according to Simpser.
Each winter, they routinely test
children for viruses that could
cause more harm to them then
the general population. This
year, they were able to add the
COVID-19 test into the mix.
Additionally, the hospital
has taken measures to help prevent
the virus from ever making
it into the walls of the hospital.
Outside vendors have been
barred from entering the building,
as have meetings with nonemployees.
Staff are required
to wear masks and have their
temperature taken before entering
the building. Additionally,
routine family visits have also
been eliminated.
To replace the valuable inperson
visits with family, the
hospital set up the capacity to
hold virtual meetings.
“We very, very quickly set
up virtual visits for families
with the kids,” Simpser said.
Photo courtesy of St. Mary’s Hospital for Children
“We have staff with iPads that
go from room to room and we
set up FaceTime or Skype visits
between the families and
the kids.”
Some families have even
chosen to board with their children
– making the promise not
to leave the hospital in order to
prevent the spread of the virus.
As other hospitals and
healthcare facilities in the city
struggled with their supply of
personal protective equipment
for staff and ventilators for
COVID-19 patients, St. Mary’s
found itself prepared and indebted
to generous donors.
In addition to a regular shipment
from the Department of
Health, St. Mary’s received donations
of masks and other PPE
from donors in the community.
“People have just gone out
and bought surgical masks
and just donated them, which
bas been very helpful for us,”
Simpser said.
While the work hasn’t been
easy, Simpser said, St. Mary’s
infrastructure and it’s donations
have helped make the
transition to protecting its children
from infection relatively
seamless. A big part of this is
due to the dedication of the hospital’s
tireless staff, according
to Simpser.
“Our staff have tremendous
anxiety around this pandemic,
around what’s going on,”
Simpser said. “And yet, our
staff are unwavering.”
Members of the staff, in
some cases, have had to leave
their homes hours earlier than
they normally would, due to
the changes in public transportation.
Others have switched
shifts with their colleagues to
ensure that everyone has adequate
time to spend with their
own families.
“There hasn’t been any
sense at all from any of our staff
about reluctance to come in and
to see their patients and to take
care of everybody. In fact, it’s
been the opposite,” Simpser
said. “ Everybody says ‘I’m a
healthcare professional, I’m
here to help take care of these
kids and I’m going to make it
work.’ It’s just been marvelous
to see our staff step up and contribute
to our kids, to our families
and to each other.”
Additional reporting by
Jenna Bagcal.
Vol. 29 No. 18 24 total pages