After Governor Andrew Cuomo requested that the federal government build 5,000 new hospital beds and increase capacity in New York City, Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato fired off a letter reminding him not to forget the Rockaway Peninsula if such resources are coming.
“My constituents face a number of difficult circumstances which make fighting the spread of an illness like the coronavirus especially challenging,” Pheffer Amato wrote. “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.”
In conclusion, Pheffer Amato wrote, “Therefore I am requesting that if federal resources are coming to New York City to expand hospital access, that they first start building or expanding existing capacity in the Rockaway Peninsula.”
