On the sixth anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas has unveiled a new five-point plan to strengthen neighborhood health care across some of the areas hardest hit by the pandemic, including East Elmhurst, Corona and Jackson Heights.
González-Rojas, who has launched a campaign to primary State Sen. Jessica Ramos in the 13th Senate District, said the neighborhoods were left without the resources they needed during the pandemic, adding that the new plan aims to ensure that the district is never left unprepared for future health emergencies.
“Six years later, our communities are still asking, ‘Are we better prepared for the next public health emergency than we were before.’ In a lot of ways, we’re not,” González-Rojas said at Friday’s launch.
González-Rojas announced the five-point plan alongside several elected officials at the First Baptist Church at 100-10 Astoria Blvd., which helped communities at the “epicenter of the epicenter” of the pandemic.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Assembly Member Catalina Cruz, Council Members Shekar Krishnan and Shanel Thomas-Henry and former Council Member Danny Dromm joined González-Rojas for the launch of the plan, which includes calls for a health clinic in East Elmhurst and the expansion of community-focused health care in Corona.
“Public health doesn’t start in Albany or Washington,” González-Rojas said at Friday’s launch. “Public health starts in our neighborhood. It starts with sensible primary care clinics, preventative services and culturally competent care that meets the needs of families.”
The five-point plan also calls for a fund to boost pandemic preparedness and the growth of a local health care workforce, including an increase in multi-lingual mental health professionals and social workers to provide culturally appropriate care for local residents.
The plan further includes calls for collaboration between different levels of government “to protect the health and well-being of every single family” in the area.
González-Rojas did not have an estimate for how much the plan would cost but said she would look to fund the program through a number of initiatives if she is elected to the State Senate, including lobbying the state legislature to provide funding and using her own capital funding. She added that she would also seek investment from health care groups.
González-Rojas is currently exploring sites for a community health clinic in East Elmhurst and has identified the First Baptist Church as one of the early contenders, crediting Rev. Patrick Young for his steadfast commitment to the local community during the pandemic. She also praised Young as being a “fearless advocate” for mental health.
“There’s a lot of stigma and shame, and places of faith end up being a place where people can reveal themselves in ways that are powerful,” González-Rojas said.
Young, meanwhile, recalled how the church “never shut down” and became a “lifeline” for the community during the pandemic. Young also credited González-Rojas for doing a “good thing” by launching the five-point plan, welcoming “wonderful” plans for a community health clinic.
“We’re excited about it because we got the support of our elected officials,” Young said.
Dromm, on the other hand, recalled seeing long lines stretch around Elmhurst Hospital during the pandemic six years ago, adding that the community has been “traditionally overlooked.”
“This community has been traditionally overlooked because it’s a black and brown community primarily,” Dromm said. “We need to change that.”
Williams said the lack of resources in neighborhoods like Corona, Elmhurst and Jackson Heights caused the area to be among the hardest hit in the nation. However, he questioned whether anything had changed to prepare the area for future public health emergencies.
“I don’t think anything has changed,” he said. “So, when, not if, something like this happens again, who is to blame when the same communities get hit the same.”
Williams praised González-Rojas for putting together a five-point plan to address the issues and “not just remembering people in vain.”
“It’s probably a plan that we need to look at for the rest of the city,” Williams said. “There’s investment, but there’s investment in the right places. There’s investment in community.”
