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Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato noted that the Level 1 trauma center nearest to the Rockaway Peninsula is Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Richmond Hill.
By Michael V. Cusenza
Last weekend’s announcement of four initial sites in New York for locating temporary hospitals—the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, locations at SUNY Stony Brook and SUNY Old Westbury on Long Island, and the Westchester Convention Center—had to disappoint at least one area elected official.
Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Howard Beach) recently penned a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo supporting his request for federal assistance to build more hospital beds, and to expand the existing capacity of hospital beds in the five boroughs. The missive also requested that the first new beds and capacity increase come to Rockaway.
Pheffer Amato noted that Assembly District 23 has more adult homes and nursing homes than any other district in New York State. St. John’s Episcopal Hospital is the only hospital servicing the Rockaway Peninsula, and the nearest Level 1 trauma center is Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Richmond Hill.
“My constituents face a number of difficult circumstances which make fighting the spread of an illness like the coronavirus especially challenging,” Pheffer Amato wrote in her March 16 message to Cuomo. “Here in Rockaway, we have a particularly vulnerable population which includes over 12 adult homes and 16 nursing homes, we are geographically isolated from most healthcare services, and we have only one hospital which has already taken in a confirmed coronavirus patient. It is imperative that our community has access to an increased capacity of hospital beds, hospital personnel, and medical resources in order to fight the spread of this illness.”
