8 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 10, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Gillibrand joins Queens reps to push for federal
funding of Elmhurst Hospital’s maternity ward
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
and Queens Congresswomen
Grace Meng and Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez were joined by
several elected offi cials and
healthcare advocates at Elmhurst
Hospital on June 4 to advocate
for the “much-needed” renovation
of Elmhurst Hospital’s
obstetrical inpatient facilities.
Ocasio-Cortez and Meng,
who’s a member of the House
Appropriations Committee,
recently submitted a joint community
funding request of $3
million for Elmhurst Hospital
in the House’s next fi scal year
budget. If the funding request is
fulfi lled and renovation is completed,
the obstetrical facility at
Elmhurst Hospital will provide
a more modern and safer maternal
health care experience for
Elmhurst’s mostly working-class
and immigrant community.
Th e facilities would have a
family-centered environment
that would also improve upon
privacy standards for women
in labor by providing a quieter
environment, which will promote
post-labor recovery, and
facilitates bonding between a
mother and her child.
Th e representatives were joined
by Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards, President
and Chief Executive Offi cer of
NYC Health + Hospitals Mitchell
Katz, Elmhurst Hospital CEO
Helen Arteaga Landaverde and
state Senator Jessica Ramos, as
well as Assemblywomen Jessica
González-Rojas and Catalina
Cruz.
Landaverde opened the press
conference describing the three
female congressional leaders as
“amazing women, who are not
only passionate and touching,
beautiful and committed to their
communities” but also, “more
importantly, strong women of
New York.”
She took the occasion to
acknowledge the entire Elmhurst
Hospital staff , saying they are
the real heroes of Elmhurst who
helped over 100,000 patients
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Landaverde then introduced
Katz as a “true leader” in the
face of an unprecedented health
crisis.
“For me, you were always the
quiet, calm voice that left me
thinking that we can beat this
thing,” Landaverde said.
Dr. Katz recalled the phone
call he received from former
Elmhurst Hospital CEO Israel
Rocha at the beginning of the
pandemic last year. Rocha told
him that they just intubated 16
patients in the last two hours
and that “something very diff erent
was happening.”
Elmhurst Hospital — which
serves a majority immigrant population
across Jackson Heights,
Elmhurst and Corona — became
the “epicenter of the epicenter”
of the COVID-19 pandemic and
showed the way forward, dealing
with an unprecedented crisis,
never turning anyone away,
Dr. Katz said.
Katz then introduced
Gillibrand, but not before sharing
that the junior senator
from New York messaged him
throughout the worst weeks of
the pandemic to assure him that
Elmhurst would receive the help
it needed.
Gillibrand emphasized that
health care is a human right
and that every New Yorker
should have access to quality of
care regardless of locality. She
explained that the $3 million in
funding for the renovation of the
OBGYN unit would fi ght another
crisis: maternal mortality.
Maternal mortality disproportionately
impacts women of
color, namely Black women, who
are three to four times more likely
to die during childbirth or
within one year of giving birth
because of biases within the
healthcare system.
“Th is is a crisis of largely preventable
deaths,” Gillibrand said.
“Th ose deaths can be prevented
with more resources and more
training, and more supplies.
We need to make investments
in hospitals like this one, and
we need to standardize the care
across all communities.”
Gillibrand also shared that she
introduced two pieces of legislation
in April to address the
Black maternal health crisis: the
Modernizing Obstetric Medicine
Standards (MOMS) Act and the
Maternal CARE Act.
“I believe that every mother
has a right to a healthy and
safe pregnancy,” Gillibrand said,
promising to continue working
with my colleagues to invest in
Elmhurst and build more support
for women of color.
Meng said the $3 million renovation
proposal would help
new mothers and parents, and
emphasized that she’ll work
alongside Ocasio-Cortez to
bring in the funds.
“You are Elmhurst strong,”
Meng said. “You deserve more
than just the hashtag. You
deserve more than just applause
at 7 p.m. And we will do all that
we can to show you our gratitude,
not just in words but in
action and money.”
Congresswoman Ocasio-
Cortez said that she was thrilled
that for the fi rst time in 10 years
that the House authorized community
funding projects, also
known as “earmarks,” with new
rules in place to ensure strict
transparency and accountability.
“We’re going to solve this
maternal health crisis in this
country, right here at Elmhurst
Hospital,” Ocasio-Cortez
said. “So we’re going back to
Washington, we’re going to ask
for $3 million for the OBGYN
unit because Elmhurst is a place
of strong women and because
the strength of this community
deserves the dignity of a worldclass
OBGYN.”
Richards emphasized that a
person’s socioeconomic status
shouldn’t determine the quality
of health care they receive.
Th e borough president said he
had no doubt the three congressional
representatives would
“bring home the bacon.”
Ramos shared a very personal
story.
Ramos’ mother went into cardiac
arrest aft er giving birth
to Ramos’ sister, Chelsea, at
Elmhurst Hospital. Her mother
was clinically dead for two minutes,
but because of the expertise
of the medical staff , her mom
and sister survived.
Th e doctor who saved her
mother’s and sister’s lives was
none other than Dr. Jasmin
Moshirpur, who’s been with
Elmhurst Hospital for more than
50 years and currently serves
as the chief medical offi cer at
Elmhurst.
“For that, I am forever indebted
to all of you,” Ramos said.
She thanked Gillibrand, Meng
and Ocasio-Cortez for their fi ght
to secure funding for Elmhurst’s
OBGYN unit, “to make sure that
my mom’s story and so many
worst stories are never, ever
repeated.”
“We want every single child
that is born in our community to
live to their full potential, and we
want every mother to be able to
enjoy as much of their child’s life
as possible,” Ramos said.
Cruz asked for a moment of
silence for the Elmhurst Hospital
staff , their family members and
friends who died of COVID-19.
“Th e best way to honor them is
doing exactly what these amazing
leaders are doing — it’s
investing so that tomorrow when
you have to deliver that baby,
you have to bring that mother
in, you have everything within
your reach to be able to do
something. You have every piece
of equipment, a beautiful space,
and you’re able to continue to do
exactly what you’ve been doing,
just in an easier way,” Cruz said.
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (second from l.), Congresswomen Grace Meng and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez thanked
Elmhurst Hospital staff for their dedication during the COVID-19 pandemic after a press conference on June 4.
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