Thousands of hospital beds slated for borough
BY ROSE ADAMS
The city will add thousands
of medical beds to Brooklyn’s
hospitals over the course of
April to accommodate the infl
ux of COVID-19 patients, offi -
cials said.
Authorities will place 400
medical beds and nearly 150 intensive
care-unit beds across
the borough’s three public
hospitals — Coney Island Hospital,
Kings County Hospital,
and Woodhull Medical Center
— by May 1, the mayor’s offi ce
announced on Thursday.
City health offi cials have
hired more than 1,000 nurses
and 165 doctors, physician’s
assistants, and nurse-practitioners
citywide, and authorities
plan to deploy at least
1,000 more in the next two
weeks, according to the city’s
top health expert.
“The governor has called
for hospitals to prepare for
the surge, and New York
City’s public hospitals have
been more than rising to the
challenge,” said President
and Chief Executive of NYC
Health + Hospitals Mitchell
Katz, MD. “We will continue
to work with city, state, federal
offi cials and the private health
systems in the city to secure as
many more beds, health care
personnel and equipment we
need to prepare for the peak
time of the epidemic which is
projected to occur sometime
in April or early May.”
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The city also plans to open
several makeshift hospital facilities,
including one at the
Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in
Red Hook slated to open mid-
April that will house 750 medical
beds. It has not yet been determined
whether the center
will treat COVID-19 patients
or hospital patients without
the virus, offi cials said.
The largest addition of hospital
beds, though, will come
from 20 hotels citywide whose
beds will be converted into
hospital wards, Mayor Bill de
Blasio announced. The city,
which is renting the spaces,
has gained 10,000 medical
beds from the deal, although
offi cials have not disclosed the
hotels, their locations, or the
project’s timeline.
The citywide additions
come as hospitals surge with
new patients and supplies run
low. A shortage of protective
gear, such as gloves and face
masks, has caused a spike in
Hospitals throughout the city are struggling to meet demand as the outbreak rages on.. Photo by Todd Maisel
coronavirus cases among hospital
staff, employees suspect.
To treat the infected healthcare
workers, a group of bipartisan
Brooklyn lawmakers
called on the city to open
a testing site in Bay Ridge for
fi rst responders and medical
workers.
“Our offi ces have heard
from many fi rst responders
& essential workers and their
family members that they
have been refused tests at
other testing sites in the city,”
reads the April 2 letter signed
by eight pols — Councilman
Justin Brannan, State Senators
Andrew Gounardes and
Diane Savino, Congressman
Jerrold Nadler and Assemblymembers
Mathylde Frontus,
Nicole Malliotakis, Peter
Abbate and Felix Ortiz.
“We need to get them tested
and keep them protected, not
just as a symbolic thank you,
but in recognition of the fact
that our city and state’s whole
response to this pandemic
falls apart if we cannot rely
on their lifesaving work,” the
group wrote.
City health offi cials, however,
suggested that the testing
site, if erected, could only
be available to public hospital
workers, because of the limited
availability of COVID-19 tests.
“We are only testing those
who are hospitalized and our
employees,” said Christopher
Miller, the senior director for
media relations at NYC Health
+ Hospitals.
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