Page 43 - 2021 Queens Economic Development Guide

a mentally draining and challenging time. I personally did not have a day off in more than four months.
How did the community help?
Every day, donations from places
I’d never even heard of arrived the hospital including large amounts of flowers. From the surrounding Queens Community, we received food for months. The local Dunkin’ Donuts would send the entire staff coffee and donuts every Monday. The donations ranged from shakes, snacks and granola bars to thank you cards.
What role did telemedicine play?
NewYork-Presbyterian relied on
its physician partners at its Medical Group off-site locations to provide thousands of telemedicine visits. During the crisis, when families could not visit their loved ones, they would get in touch with call centers, some of which were operating 24 hours a day to communicate with families.
The Medical Group’s physicians also kept in touch with patients who came to the emergency room with COVID-19 but were not sick enough to be admitted.
With the situation stabilized, what happens next?
Thankfully, vaccination rates are up and hospitalization rates are down. While we have more experience in treating the virus, and we have surge plans ready, we continue to carefully monitor the situation. That is probably the most hopeful any of us have been in a long time.”
What opportunities arose for community partnership?
This was definitely a time to come together to serve the community. We partnered with local groups to host 67 online health education events over the last year, reaching around 3,000 people. We were also able to provide 25,938 meals with Make the Road NY and Public Health Solutions. Just recently, we provided La Jornada and River Fund food pantries with a combined 6,200 meals.
Earlier this year, NewYork- Presbyterian launched a grant program to specifically help local businesses implement health and safety measures during COVID. We were so glad to work with the Queens Chamber to disseminate $400,000
to 283 Queens businesses. We also
“Working with the Chamber has given us an opportunity
to work with an organization that shares the same commitment to building a strong and healthy community in Queens.”
handed out 26,000 pieces of PPE.
We are proud to have partnered with these organizations and the Chamber of Commerce to help those in need during these challenging times.
We have also worked closely with local elected officials to make sure they were briefed on all of our community efforts. They have been very supportive.
What are the benefits of working with the Chamber of Commerce?
Working with the Chamber has given us an opportunity to work with an organization that shares the same commitment to building a strong
and healthy community in Queens. The Chamber’s knowledge of the small minority/local business and the restaurant industry was invaluable as we sought to make a real difference throughout Queens.
What’s your vision for the hospital, post-COVID?
We don’t want to just be a place where people come when they’re
sick. I’d like for it to be a place
of knowledge, as well as health screenings, education, and partnership. We’re an integral part of the health and wellbeing of the borough.
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