18 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 11, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Elmhurst Hospital earns a special ‘baby-friendly’ honor
BY MAX PARROTT
mparrott@qns.com
@QNS
Elmhurst Hospital won recognition for
its infant care program on Friday.
Th e World Health Organization (WHO)
and the United Nations Children’s Fund
awarded NYC Health + Hospitals/
Elmhurst baby-friendly status, a designation
Photo courtesy of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst
NYC Health Hospitals/Elmhurst’s “baby-friendly” team of physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers.
Optimism after LIC aff ordable housing breaks ground
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
While some discussed the diffi culties
of building aff ordable housing at any
level of government, others marveled at
the fact that while Queens once looked
to Manhattan for inspiration, residents
of the borough nowadays are looking
inward.
At least this was the attitude of lawmakers
and socially conscious execs at
the groundbreaking ceremony for the
over 1,100 units of aff ordable housing in
Hunters Point South on Friday morning.
“Newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin
always said that Queens was the most
romantic borough because we could look
out at the aspirational lights of Manhattan,
but what’s happened in the last few years
is that the aspirational lights are here
in Queens,” Assemblywoman Catherine
Nolan said. “It’s in Queens where people
are getting the chance to build their lives
and families.”
About 60 percent of the studios,
one-bedroom and two-bedroom units in
the highrise – adding to skyline and Long
Island City rise to prominence – will
be aff ordable to lower income brackets.
TF Cornerstone and city Department of
Housing Preservation and Development,
however, could not provide income brackets
for the aff ordable units at this time.
Both Nolan and Congresswoman
Carolyn Maloney looked at the optimism
behind the opportunities of the development
as a palate cleanser to the confl
ict experienced in the community by
Amazon’s retreat, taking 25,000 to 40,000
jobs with it.
“Really one of the biggest challenges
that we have in government is aff ordable
housing, it’s so, so diffi cult to build,”
Maloney said. “I don’t know if any other
project like this in the whole city or the
whole country that is setting aside that
many units of aff ordable housing.”
But although it is not quite clear how
aff ordable the units will be yet, Stuart
Kaplan, CEO of Selfh elp Community
Services which was a partner in the development,
approved of the $129 million project.
“Selfh elp learned long ago that a house
or an apartment is more than just four
walls,” Kaplan said. “Th is project that we
are embarking on today epitomizes that
because it recognizes the people, the community
and the services that enable people
particularly who are low income to
live independently with dignity.”
Kaplan, whose organization helps
Holocaust survivors and other elderly
people age through key services, said the
development symbolized the growth of
“community equity.”
Residents who call the development
home will have some of the most
sought aft er views of the East River and
Manhattan, as well as access to the new
Hunters Point South Park. Th e building
will be just a stone throw to the NYC
Ferry landing.
conferred by the WHO’s initiative
to encourage breastfeeding, regulations
on breast milk substitute and early mother
infant bonding.
“Th is designation is an attestation to
the exemplary level of care we provide to
our patients in Maternal Child Health.
Th e practices are evidence based, which
will lead to improved outcomes for our
mothers and babies,” said Dr. Jennifer
Pintiliano, the NYC Health + Hospitals
associate director of pediatrics.
In 2018, 2,327 babies were born at the
hospital. Of the babies born in its new
mother/baby unit last year, approximately
96 percent initiated breastfeeding immediately
following delivery. Th e unit also
features 15 private rooms for infants to
room in, allowing for a bonding opportunity
between mother and child.
Th e designation means that the hospital’s
maternity unit complies with
UNICEF’s global program to encourage
successful breastfeeding techniques and
the International Code of Marketing of
Breast-Milk Substitutes. Currently there
are 561 hospitals and birth centers that
hold this designation in the U.S.
UNICEF’s baby-friendly program
maintains that human milk fed through
direct breastfeeding is the best way for
infants to be nourished. Th e breastfeeding
program promotes a hospital-wide
breastfeeding policy, training for staff ,
encouragement for mothers to initiate
breastfeeding within one hour of birth
and the infrastructure to allow mothers
and infants to remain together 24 hours
a day.
The program also enforces the
International Code of Marketing of
Breast-Milk Substitutes, which prevents
hospitals from advertising baby formula
or accepting free or low-cost infant formula.
“I could not be prouder of NYC
Health and Hospital Elmhurst and
applaud this wonderful achievement,”
Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz said.
“Our district and it’s residents deserve
quality medical care, and NYC Health
and Hospitals Elmhurst is here to deliver
(literally!).”
Th e hospital will have a chance to earn
a re-designation of this award aft er a rigorous
on-site survey is completed aft er
fi ve years.
Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney lauded the start of a new aff ordable housing program in Long
Island City on April 5.
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