War hits home for staff at Coney hospital
Mayor visits southern BK intitutions impacted by ongoing confl ict in Ukraine
BY XIMENA DEL CERRO
After almost two weeks
of ongoing violence against
Ukraine, some of Brooklyn’s
southern-most communities
are still reeling — among
them, the staff and patients at
Coney Island Hospital, where
more than 3,000 employees
are of either Russian or Ukrainian
descent.
On March 6, Mayor Eric
Adams, fl anked by fellow
elected offi cials and community
activists, visited the hospital
and other institutions
in Brooklyn’s predominantly
Ukrainian neighborhoods to
show support. At the Ocean
Parkway hospital, the former
Brooklyn Beep spoke with
leaders and staff to express
the city “stands with them.”
“Bombs may be dropping
on Ukraine, but the impact
of those explosions is being
felt here in our community,”
Adams told press during the
March 6 visit. “We are united
here and we’re going to do
our share to help the people of
Ukraine the best way we can
possibly help them.”
COURIER L 10 IFE, MARCH 11-17, 2022
As of March 7, there were
406 recorded civilian deaths
and 801 injuries as a result
of the confl ict, according to
a statement released by the
United Nations.
Southern Brooklyn is
home to one of the largest
Ukrainian populations outside
of eastern Europe, with
the Brighton Beach neighborhood
earning the nickname
“Little Odessa” due to its population
of immigrants from
Ukraine, Russia and other ex-
Soviet territories.
At Coney Island Hospital,
the issue hits home for almost
a quarter of its staff.
“Some staff members are
having a hard time getting
hold of people, some have lost
their homes,” said Svetlana
Lipyanskaya, CEO of NYC
Health + Hospitals/Coney Island.
“Our patients are struggling
with the same thing, so
they’re coming into our emergency
rooms and our doctor’s
offi ces for their medical issues,
but they’re bringing this
pain with them and so we’re
really trying to be supportive
to them as well.”
The hospital has provided
resources for staff to decompress
and cope with the unfolding
humanitarian crisis.
Two wellness rooms, where
staff can stop in for a break
and access support services,
opened in the last week.
“I think we’re going to be
seeing this for a very long
time because — no matter
what happens there today, tomorrow,
there’s a humanitarian
crisis that will last for
quite some time,” said Lipyanskaya,
who herself was born
in Ukraine. “To say that a
quarter of the staff has been
affected would be very much
an underestimate because we
are seeing that even those who
are not from there are affected
by what’s going on with their
coworkers.”
In an interview with Brooklyn
Paper, the hospital head
said employees can request
leaves of absence, but the overall
response she’s been getting
is that those affected prefer to
be working, rather than focusing
on the news.
Resident Nurse Lada Svis
said her family, who remains
in Ukraine, is discouraged
from fl eeing to the United
States because their visas
would not allow them to stay
for long. “They are trying to
escape to other parts of Europe
because they want to go
back to Ukraine,” she said.
During Adams’ visit to
southern Brooklyn, he also
stopped by the Sea Breeze
Jewish Center, where neighbors
collected donations to be
fl own to war-affected sites. He
also met up with members of
the Brighton Beach Business
Improvement District in an
effort to embrace Ukrainian
business owners and employees,
still working to make
ends meet while war rages on
in their home country.
Mayor Eric Adams speaks with Resident Nurse Lada Svis, one of the
3,000-plus employees at Coney Island Hospital personally affected by
the war in Ukraine. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Offi ce
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