HEALTHCARE ACCESS

The Coronavirus has exposed the disparity in our health care delivery system. Queens was the hardest borough and was woefully unprepared to face the crisis. In a borough with 2.4 million people, we have just nine hospital campuses. Just in the last twelve years, four of our hospitals have closed, removing more than 840 beds and thousands of medical professionals and leaving communities like Far Rockaway with even less access to healthcare.

To accept this as normal would be to accept that Queens don’t matter. That is why my administration is going to fight with the same zeal of our healthcare heroes to greatly expand access to healthcare — especially in communities that have long felt the sting of inequity.

This means pushing for more community-based health centers, offering preventative medicine and keeping non-emergencies out of our crowded emergency rooms. And it means advocating for new hospital construction and increasing funding to our existing hospitals — which are already doing so much with far less than they need.

We need to think big and act bold. Let’s make sure that if and when another pandemic Queens is prepared, we won’t be overwhelmed the way we were last year. Let’s get to work.