JANUARY 2021 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 9
COVER FEATURE
LI'S PEOPLE OF THE YEAR
“It is a very easy thing to do, but it
made a huge difference for them,” he
said.
Gulbransen has had to rethink how
he runs his pediatric practice on Long
Island since the coronavirus crisis
started.
He said he was worried about his pediatric
patients picking up on their parents’
anxieties, as well as the health
and financial welfare of his staff.
“The anxiety level is palpable,” said
Gulbransen.
“But it’s a privilege,” he said, adding,
“you’re here for your patients. You
gotta push and do whatever it takes.”
THE PHYSICIAN’S ASSISTANT
“Home soon,” Madhvi Aya of Floral
Park texted from her hospital bed.
“Love you.”
It was the last exchange she had with
her only daughter, 18-year-old Minnoli.
Three days later, Madhvi Aya died
of Covid-19.
Aya, 61, was a physician assistant who
had treated patients with the coronavirus.
Then she became a patient
herself.
She was admitted to Long Island Jewish
Medical Center on March 18 after
being infected and died 11 days later.
Her family believes she contracted the
respiratory illness at her workplace
— the emergency room at Woodhull
Medical and Mental Health Center in
Brooklyn.
She told her husband and daughter
that she had treated infected patients
while wearing only a surgical mask,
which offers little protection from
airborne infection. Woodhull hospital
declined to comment on Aya’s case or
whether the facility had been able to
provide its staff with enough protective
gear amid widespread shortages
nationally.
Aya is among dozens of U.S. healthcare
workers identified by Reuters
as having died after being diagnosed
with or showing symptoms of the
virus. They include nurses, doctors
and technicians who have died in the
United States after contracting the
disease, according to interviews with
hospitals, union representatives and
families and a Reuters review of local
media reports and obituaries.
Traveling nurse Meghan Lindsey embraces her daughters Braelyn, 9, and Avery, 6, after being away for five weeks,
upon her arrival in Fayetteville, Arkansas on May 16, 2020. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton)
There’s no official tally of the deaths
among U.S. healthcare workers, and
the total could be much higher than
the number counted by Reuters.
FIRST VACCINE
An employee at Northwell Health’s
Long Island Jewish Medical Center
gave Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine to
the first New Yorkers to receive the
vaccine on Dec. 14. Sandra Lindsay, a
critical care nurse at the New Hyde
Park hospital, was the first person
to get the vaccine in the state and the
nation.
“I feel hopeful today,” Lindsay said.
“Relieved.”
Michelle Chester, Northwell’s director
of employee health services, administered
it in the presence of Northwell
president and CEO Michael Dowling.
“This is a special moment, a special
day,” Dowling said. “This is what
everybody’s been waiting for — to be
able to give the vaccine, and hopefully
this is the beginning of the end of the
Covid issue.”
Chester took just one minute to prepare
and administer the vaccine, an
effort that was met by applause and
cheers from Gov. Andrew Cuomo and
staff on-site at LIJ, including Lindsay
herself.
“It didn’t feel any different from taking
any other vaccine,” Lindsay said.
“… We all need to do our part to put an
end to the pandemic, and to not give
up so soon.
“There’s light at the end of the tunnel,”
she continued, “but we still need to
continue to wear our masks, to social
distance … I trust science. What I don’t
trust is that if I contract Covid, how it
will impact me or those who I come in
contact with. So I encourage everyone
to take the vaccine.”
- With Reuters and Briana Bonfiglio
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
