Hospitals Closed In New York City Leave Thousands Unemployed and a Community in Danger

Jonathan Mena
jonathanmena.nyc@gmail.com

Queens, NY - As Midnight neared, close to 2500 would face the new day without a job. St. John's Hospital in Elmhurst and Mary Immaculate in Jamaica , Queens, both shut their doors today. Caritas, the health management company that ran the hospital filed for chapter 11 and laid off its entire staff.

Workers for the hospital were visibly upset about the prospect of looking for new jobs. Mark Schwartz, an EMT who worked for St. John's for 3 years said he found out they where closing by word of mouth and what he saw on the news. "Tomorrow I will start looking for jobs on craiglist. What choice do I have." said Schwartz.

Justina Allen, a Nurse who worked at the hospital for 18 years was more optimistic, "I can find a job because I have skills but what about the rest?" Aside from the medical staff these two hospitals employed a large number of blue collar employees who cleaned the hospital and ran maintenance.

The closure means these hospitals located in predominately immigrant communities will have to travel much farther to receive medical attention. Mary Immaculate which is located in a large latino and black community will force nearby Jamaica hospital to taken handle the extra load.

Overcrowding will create longer wait times in already overcrowded hospitals. Patient care will suffer because of the loss of these two hospitals. Ambulance response time will also see a sharp decline since both these hospitals provide EMT services through out central Queens.

An EMT who asked not to be named said, "Don't have a heart attack in Queens. You might not make it fast enough to hospital now that the we are closed." One thing was clear you are better off getting sick in Manhattan than Queens.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• St.
• John's
• Hospital
• Elmhurst
• Mary
• Immaculate
• Jamaica
• Queens
• NYC
• Caritas
• Insurance
• Health
• Care
• Closing
• Closed
• Chapter
• 11
• EMT
• Jonathan
• Mena
• Gregg
• Morris
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[wesharris6]

@burgersherm

Ummm, convenient and universal 'free" health care are socialist/communistic memes I am opposed to such ideas. You are definitely in need of more information exposure, I think maybe READ more. Goodness gracious set this idiot afire.

[burgersherm]

@wesharris6 And you're a COMMUNIST! You need to be removed from our country!

[bebetigre12]

this is causing so much misery,where do all these patients go now??I heard hospitals in Queens are the worst places to work anyway.

[misterwheely]

i am 12 years old and i wuz fuckin born in stjohns how dare dey close it!

[Colombchaos]

It's a shame to see a hospital close down! I would assume with the growth of humans there would be a surge of hospitals, instead, they are closing them down. I wonder what's going to become of it.

[angelwriter18]

I took my mother there twice to the ER for heart troubles. It is a shame they have closed this hospital down. It is a vital health care center for many residents. I am shocked, but given the circumstances in the economic crisis, it is understandable. However, the closing of this hospital is not well liked and the number of people affected by it is great in numbers. =/

[wesharris6]

And, you're an idiot.

Consolidation, and contraction are a necessary party to societal and economic correction. There is no entitlement to healthcare. Deal with it.

[mariaz56]

I had my child in St. John's. I have been to this emergency room. The place was always packed! I would understand closing a hospital because not many people used their services but that was not the case here. It is shameful that a vital service to the neighborhood was taken away. What will happen now? Will you be turned away at the doors of the remaining hospitals for lack of room? Both the city and state governments should be ashamed of themselves!

[tenticketthrill]

I was born in St. John's. My mother worked there for 18 years. The Filipino woman you interviewed is one of her coworkers and a dear family friend.

The economic crisis is affecting us all. We need to organize and take action.

THEY SAY CUT BACK! WE SAY FIGHT BACK!