Proposed cuts to St. John’s Episcopal Hospital have been halted “now and for the foreseeable
future” after elected officials in Queens formed a united front to push back against the
state’s plan.
Continued from Page 3
Chief Nursing Officer
Joann Gull reflected back
on the crisis at the hospital
where she has worked for
nearly half a century.
“We did a lot of Facetiming
with family members,
we had physicians
who adapted a unit and
called family members every
day and gave them an
update of what was going
on,” Gull remembered.
“The staff — particularly
the nursing staff — would
Photo courtesy of St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
try to spend as much time
as they could with the
patients, holding their
hands, talking to them,
so they felt that it was
their calling to be a surrogate
family member.
So, I think a lot of people
felt that one of their major
contributions is to be the
substitute family member
and we got a great
sense of pride as patients
left the institution, it was
very moving. As they left,
we would gather outside
the door and everybody
would be cheering the patient
and clapping and we
felt we had won the battle
for them.”
Dr. Stuart Kessler,
the Director of the Emergency
Department at Elmhurst
Hospital, looked
back on the crisis.
“We are always preparing
for emergency situations,
but I don’t think
anyone in the country
could have been prepared
for what happened in
March and April,” Kessler
said. “We knew something
was different fairly
early in March but there
were a few days when we
just had an overwhelming
volume of patients
coming to the emergency
department and we saw
almost double the volume,
but not just double the volume,
ten times the level of
illness.”
He added that the
emergency department
now has an area that
serves patients with COVID.
Erica Harris, a nurse
supervisor who has
worked at Elmhurst Hospital
for 20 years, recently
received a one-on-one
phone call with President
Joe Biden. The President
highlighted her “lifesaving”
work over the
course of the past year
while she asked for the resources,
namely the COVID
19 vaccine, that she
needs to beat the virus.
“It’s what’s on the
front of my mind that
would make me the
proudest right now, is to
see that everyone who
wants a vaccine is able
to get one,” Harris said.
“I’m very proud to say
that we’re able to vaccinate
the community,
hundreds and hundreds
of people a day. We’ve vaccinated
now, I think about
10,000 people.”
Councilman Francisco
Moya was born at Elmhurst
Hospital, worked
at Elmhurst Hospital and
now represents Elmhurst
Hospital.
“I’m incredibly proud
of the heroes at Elmhurst
Hospital and their
continued resilience and
commitment to the, to
counting with antibody
treatments deeply impacted
by COVID-19,”
Moya said. “Seeing how
they risked their lives
for our community
through the worst of this
pandemic when no one
knew what to do with
this noel virus and when
people were afraid to
even breathe the air near
the hospital — they were
at the epicenter. From
when the pandemic hit,
the understanding of how
COVID-19 spreads to how
it’s treated has evolved
significantly. They went
from not having specific
treatments for this novel
virus to evaluating the
efficacy of treatments, in
addition to now having
the added protection of
the vaccines.”
Moya added that the
hospital is now better
prepared to combat COVID
19 and they doubled
down on their telehealth
services to ensure there
isn’t a gap with care and
to also offer mental health
services.
“Elmhurst Hospital
remains steadfast in their
commitment to the most
diverse neighborhoods in
this nation, not only with
treating COVID but also
helping reduce the spread
by offering testing, vaccinations
and preventative
care,” Moya said.
“They have been a key
resource for New Yorkers,
keeping our community
informed about the
evolution of COVID including
through my town
halls in both English and
Spanish throughout the
pandemic. Information
in multiple languages
has been critical to protect
our most vulnerable
New Yorkers. It has given
me great pride to see the
collaboration between Elmhurst
Hospital and our
community. They have
been a beacon of hope for
this city and our country.”
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