FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 13, 2022 • THE QUEENS COURIER 17
Mayor Adams makes three-point plan to aid
hospitals amid the ongoing COVID-19 surge
BY DEAN MOSES
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Mayor Eric Adams made a trip to
Elmhurst Hospital — the original
COVID-19 epicenter of the city’s pandemic
— last week to outline a new program
assisting medical centers treating
the infl ux of sick patients.
Hizzoner unfolded a three-point plan
that will aid hospitals with the resources
they need to weather the surge in COVID-
19 cases. “Oft en we forget about the ‘safety
net hospitals.’ Th ey play a vital role in
ensuring that there is a net that people
can safely know they’re not going to fall
through the system,” Adams said.
Speaking to a room brimming with
elected offi cials and medical staff , Adams
and health leaders also provided a rundown
on the positivity rates the city is seeing,
which suggest that the omicron variant
fueled uptick in COVID-19 cases isn’t
about to slow down just yet.
“Th e data that we’re seeing, which is
cases are increasing and hospitalizations
are increasing — I expect that that will
continue in the near term, meaning the
next 10 days or two weeks. What we’re
looking for is a deceleration in the rate of
growth. And we’re not seeing that yet. But
that’s what I’m looking for in the data for us
to be able to say that we may be approaching
the peak in the coming weeks,” said
Dr. Dave A. Chokshi, commissioner of the
New York City Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene.
Dr. Chokshi stated that the tracking
showcased a steep increase in positive
rates over the last week of December, but
in recent days he has noticed positivity
rates “leveling off .” He explained that it is
too early to tell if this leveling off is due to
holiday testing patterns or a reprieve. In
order to combat the virus, he urged individuals
to get vaccinated and boosted,
wash their hands, and wear a higher quality
of masks. He does recommend cloth
masks, and emphasized surgical masks
and other higher-grade face coverings
should now be used.
Th e surge of COVID-19 cases has also
once again caused a dangerous healthcare
worker to patient ratio, leaving many facilities
shorthanded.
Th e Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention reports that as of Dec. 30,
2021, the number of health care workers
who had contracted COVID-19 doubled
to 803,454, and 3,063 had died from the
virus. Th is has resulted in dangerous staff -
ing conditions for nurses and other medical
personnel.
“I saw it last night when I was at
Woodhull Hospital with other medical
professionals and how much they’re going
through: they were energized to help people
to get through this period. And our
healthcare heroes have been working long
hours, countless number of days, times
away from their family, but they were
committed and dedicated and they’re
clear we are going to beat back COVID.
We’re not going to succumb or allow our
lives to be defi ned by COVID. We’re going
to be stronger than ever when we cycle out
of this period,” Adams said.
With the increase in rates, hospitals
are seeing a reduction in their staff as
they quarantine to help stop the spread.
In light of this, Adams announced a corporate
partnership with Goldman Sachs
that will provide $33 million in funds to
safety net hospitals, such as Elmhurst in
Queens and Brookdale in Brooklyn. Th is
allows these facilities that are in need of
money to attain the resources needed so
that they can make critical investments.
While much of this will be reimbursable
by FEMA, the immediate funds allow
for staffi ng and equipment to be paid for
immediately.
Th e program named the New York City
COVID-19 hospital loan fund will aid
frontline hospitals in the NYC Health
and Hospitals network by providing salaries,
protective equipment, testing, vaccine
administration and distribution.
Adams added that so far these loans have
already funded over 22,400 safety net
hospital staff members that have served
over 26,000 patients. Th e money is said
to be placed in a “hospital pool” and utilized
to meet the demands of taking care
of patients. Th e funds were most recently
used in Coney Island Hospital — which
was noted at the press conference to have
been hit the hardest fi rst due to the large
number of elderly residents — to hire
nurses and additional staff .
Adams commended Goldman Sachs on
their eff ort and called upon other fi nancial
institutions to take the same steps and
not just applaud medical facilities but support
them.
Photo by Dean Moses
In addition to the hospital loan, the
mayor has allocated the immediate use of
$111 million for Health + Hospitals to hire
nurses, utilize additional providers and
supply support staff . According to NYC
Health + Hospitals President and Chief
Executive Offi cer Dr. Mitchell Katz, members
of City Hall will work together to
get as much of this reimbursed by FEMA
since the money is considered budget
neutral and was previously allocated for
this year’s fi scal budget. Katz stressed that
this money will provide immediate help
with the severe staffi ng shortages medical
facilities are currently facing.
“We know about the staffi ng issues that
we are facing fi nding the dollars in the
money to ensure that we maintain proper
staffi ng in our hospitals. Th is is crucial
and we’re going to do everything possible
to ensure this pump-up baseline staffi ng
including doctors, nurses, medical technicians
and support rookies and it would
increase the overall COVID capacity and
how we respond though. Expand staffi ng
and support at the Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene part of our ongoing
COVID-19 Response Plan,” Adams said.
Mayor Eric Adams proudly announced $27 million in loans will be provided to NYC Health + Hospitals.
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