State Sen. Jessica Ramos joined healthcare leaders, frontline workers, and other advocates outside NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst Saturday afternoon to hold a vigil marking the fifth anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ramos held the vigil at the Frank D. O’Connor Playground, located across the street from the hospital at 79-01 Broadway, on Saturday, March 15, one day after the five-year anniversary of the first COVID death in the city.
Elmhurst Hospital, described as the “epicenter of the epicenter” of the COVID-19 pandemic, was at over 230% capacity in the early days of the pandemic and saw hundreds of patients die, including 13 patients in a 24-hour spell in March 2020.
Saturday’s vigil represented a remembrance of the more than 46,000 New Yorkers who lost their lives throughout the pandemic, in addition to a tribute to the essential workers who “risked their health and safety” to keep New York running during the crisis.
Ramos was joined by healthcare staff at Elmhurst Hospital, delivery drivers, community leaders and school representatives for a minute’s silence in the shadow of the hospital, reflecting on the impact COVID had on the healthcare sector and local communities across the city.
The event concluded with a moment’s silence and a somber saxophone performance of “Amazing Grace” as attendees reflected on how Elmhurst became “ground zero” of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City.
“Nowhere was hit harder than our district,” Ramos said on Saturday afternoon. “The hospital behind us became the epicenter of the epicenter during the pandemic.”
Ramos, who was born in Elmhurst Hospital, said the hospital played a critical role in the local community and represented far more than a healthcare center.
“It’s much more than a hospital. It’s a community center that welcomes any human being that walks through the door seeking care,” Ramos said Saturday.
Janice Fana, an emergency department nurse at Elmhurst Hospital, spoke of how she cried for the patients she lost during the pandemic and pledged to remember not only the lives lost to COVID but also the lives saved through the sacrifices of the local community.
“We haven’t forgotten how we all came together during the most difficult time in our history and persevered and pulled through,” Fana said. “We remember how this community showed us gratitude,” she added, stating that a community mural honoring healthcare workers was a source of inspiration for frontline workers as they entered and exited the hospital every day.
Fana also recalled how she took care of one of the hospital’s first confirmed cases of COVID-19 on March 7, 2020, remembering how she stayed in the hospital overnight out of fear of taking the virus back to her home. When Fana did return home, she slept in a separate room and wore a mask at all times, stating that she never went near her husband or children.
Sandro Navarro, a community leader and current candidate for Council District 21, recalled conducting countless outreach to ensure that members of the immigrant community were vaccinated against COVID-19. Navarro, who then worked as Queens Organizer for the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, spoke of how the vaccination rate among the local immigrant community reached 96% thanks to significant community outreach and engagement.
Navarro additionally noted that it was important to mark the five-year anniversary of the pandemic and all future anniversaries going forward in order to pay tribute to the solidarity that local communities showcased five years ago.
“It’s important to remember our struggles and the pandemic was a struggle that unified many of our needs as neighbors,” Navarro said.
Bill Psoras, principal of Newtown High School, spoke of the “immense” sacrifices and resiliency showcased by the local community throughout the pandemic, speaking of how the school strove to strengthen the interpersonal experiences of students even after the shift to remote learning.
Psoras also announced the launch of a new diagnostic medicine nursing career pathway at the school in partnership with Elmhurst Hospital, whereby students at the school will gain firsthand experience of the advantages of entering a career in medicine or nursing.
“We believe that it is our obligation for first-generation Americans and newcomers to have all of these particular opportunities,” Psoras said. “It is only through education that we can make this happen.
“At Newtown High School, our mission is to ensure that our students have the academic and the interpersonal skills needed to be able to get a lucrative profession and bring generational wealth to their families.”
Ramos, meanwhile, believes that the program can provide an example of how to combat staffing shortages in hospitals and healthcare centers across the city.
Ramos stated that hospitals are now more understaffed than they were during the pandemic due to a lack of incentives to stay in or join the healthcare sector. A recent New York State Nurses Association report found that some hospitals are still falling short of the minimum nurse-to-patient ratio for critical and intensive care patients, introduced by the state legislature in 2021. Nearly 1,000 doctors at four hospitals in the city also threatened to strike in January 2025, citing demands for pay hikes and an end to an understaffing crisis.
“Newtown High School is a great example of doing the right thing,” Ramos said. “They saw this crisis as an opportunity to inspire their students to pursue careers where there are shortages, and so we are hoping that in the near future, many of the doctors and nurses at Elmhurst Hospital are going to be homegrown, our children, who are going to step up to keep us safe.”
Fana likewise expressed hope that the Newtown High School program will provide an example for schools across the city and inspire younger generations to pursue careers in the healthcare sector.
“I think that’s a great bridge to try to get young people to be more interested in going into the nursing profession,” Fana said. “A lot of our nurses are retiring. I’m looking forward to retirement myself and I’m trying to convince my children to go into nursing now.”
Fana added that schools can play a crucial role in educating young students about the benefits of pursuing a career in the healthcare sector.
Ramos, who is running for mayor in the upcoming mayoral election, said she hopes to work with CUNY to create the appropriate workforce pipelines to address the staffing shortages if she is elected mayor. She added that she does not believe that the city has learned its lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m not confident at all that the city is prepared for another pandemic,” Ramos said. “Knowing that the bird flu is out there, that it’s not just killing chickens, and that we have a person occupying the White House who is defunding and taking away resources from the appropriate agencies that are in place meant to keep us safe is really scary.”
Ramos announced that she hopes to set up a commission at the state level to audit the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She stated that the five-year anniversary represents an opportunity to better plan for potential future pandemics. She said the audit would ensure that the city is learning its lessons from COVID-19, including “what we did wrong, what we did right, and what we could have done better.”
“I know that in many instances, there was a lack of access to PPE, protective equipment, masks for our first responders at the hospital and other places,” Ramos said. “There was price gouging for even hand sanitizer at supermarkets, and so making sure that the city is stocked up on materials, particularly at our hospitals, is dire consequence.”
