19 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 25, 2022 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Queens lawmakers laud Mayor Adams’ plan to
bring new healthcare facility to Far Rockaway
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
CMOHAMED@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Mayor Eric Adams is planning to bring a new
healthcare facility to Far Rockaway under his
“Rebuild, Renew, Reinvent” economic recovery
plan for New York City released on March 10.
Th e mayor’s plan outlines an ambitious
agenda to reimagine the future of New York
City’s economy built on equity and inclusivity,
following two years of hardship amid the
ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“New York City’s recovery cannot and will
not be about going back to the way things
were. We are going to rebuild, renew and
reinvent our city and our economy for today,
tomorrow and generations to come,” Adams
said. “Th is is more than a to-do list — it is a
complete reset with more than 70 concrete
actions we will take to tear down the barriers
to progress and build up a strong, resilient
city with opportunity for everyone.”
One of the mayor’s initiatives in the
plan involves improving long-term health
outcomes in downtown Far Rockaway, a
neighborhood facing disproportionate health
disparities and impacts of COVID. Th rough a
new public health facility and improvements
to local parks, the city will provide local
access to new community health resources
and wellness programs, modeled aft er programs
elsewhere in the city, according to the
mayor’s plan.
Queens Borough President Donovan
Richards, who has been a staunch and tireless
advocate for bringing additional healthcare
facilities to the Rockaway peninsula, says he
looks forward to working with Adams to “deliver
a facility worthy of these communities.”
“Ending the healthcare disparities Rockaway
families face has been a top priority of
mine for years. I’m thankful @NYCMayor
has joined the push to bring a new healthcare
facility to Rockaway,” Richards wrote
on Twitter.
Richards, along with Senator James Sanders
Jr. and Assemblyman Khaleel Anderson,
sent a letter to the mayor’s offi ce on March
4 on the importance of bringing healthcare
equity to Far Rockaway, and a new NYC
Health + Hospital facility.
Signifi cant progress was made under former
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration to
make the project a reality, according to the
Mayor Eric Adams is planning to bring a new healthcare facility to Far Rockaway, where St. John’s Episcopal is currently the only hospital among smaller healthcare
clinics on the peninsula.
lawmakers. However, the plan was dropped
by NYC Health + Hospitals during last fall’s
mayoral transition.
In their letter, the lawmakers outlined COVID’s
impact on the Rockaway peninsula and
outreach equity in those communities that
have been an “abject failure at worst.”
“With one already overburdened hospital,
St. John’s Episcopal, and a smattering of
smaller healthcare clinics on the peninsula,
however, Rockaway families have little to no
access to the medical care they deserve,” the
lawmakers said in the letter.
According to the lawmakers, the closest
Level 1 Adult Trauma Center is Jamaica Hospital,
which is more than 10 miles away, while
the nearest Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center,
Cohen’s Children’s Medical Center, is nearly
13 miles from the peninsula’s eastern end and
more than 23 miles from its western tip.
“Even for families lucky enough to own a
vehicle, it can take upwards of an hour or more
for Rockaway families to reach these facilities,”
the lawmakers said. “Meanwhile, the Neponsit
Adult Day Healthcare Center, which largely caters
to individuals with cognitive impairments,
has been shuttered for numerous reasons since
the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving
peninsula seniors to suff er from a lack of
critical services.”
According to the lawmakers, funding and
constructing an NYC Health + Hospitals in Far
Rockaway is a start to addressing healthcare disparities
and improving the health and wellbeing
of its residents.
“Th e Queens Borough President’s Offi ce and the
‘World’s Borough’ have done right by NYC Health
+ Hospitals throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,
supporting our healthcare heroes in every sense of
the word and working day and night to ensure as
Photo courtesy of SJEH
many residents as possible get tested, vaccinated
and boosted,” Richards said. “As we emerge from
the omicron wave of the COVID-19 pandemic
and fuel Queens’ comeback, it’s now NYC Health
+ Hospitals and city government’s turn to fi nally
do right by the families of Rockaway.”
In a statement to QNS, Anderson said it is no
secret the Rockaways are grossly underserved
in terms of healthcare and medical needs while
noting the closure of the Peninsula Hospital in
2012 that left residents with only one emergency
room at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, which was
already overburdened before.
“COVID-19 had wrecked this inadequate health
system, and I am glad Mayor Eric Adams senses
the urgency the peninsula faces,” Anderson
said. “Th e new NYC Health facility recently
announced by the mayor in his economic recovery
plan is one of the many steps to ensure
healthcare equity to Rockaway.”
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