NY Nurse: July/August 2020

Just weeks after COVID-19 peaked in Westchester County all signs indicated Montefiore Medical System was moving forward with plans to shutter Mount Vernon Hospital (MVH). Some 1,400 COVID-related deaths county-wide had not been persuasive. The ICU was now on the chopping block and 16 nurses were to be laid off. The nurses learned the news on Facebook.

This was a particularly devastating blow to a community hit hard by COVID. There were 2,700 cases in Mount Vernon alone, and Mount Vernon Hospital was the area’s only full-service facility.

At the height of the COVID surge, psych and detox units around the state were converted to treat COVID patients. They now sit empty as the surge has subsided. However, these units have not been reopened. Many major health systems are using “COVID Surge Plans” to keep them closed, effectively denying inpatient mental healthcare to numerous communities.

Brooklyn Breakthrough!

For months, NYSNA has been pushing hospitals around the state to move to reusable respiratory protection, including powered air purifying respirators (PAPRs) and elastomeric respirators, to address the continued shortage of single-use N95s and other disposable PPE.

Our organizing is finally paying off with our first breakthrough in Brooklyn!

As nurses, we put the health and well-being of our patients first every time we’re at the bedside. Despite the enormous challenges, we saved the lives of over 73,000 New Yorkers during the COVID-19 surge this spring.

“When will we go back to normal?” This is the question many schoolchildren are asking in New York, now that the rate of COVID infection and death plummets.

As we continue to recover and attempt to orient ourselves to “Phase IV,” the unknowns that we face, as caregivers, students, parents, sons and daughters are daunting and terrifying. Not only are vacations on hold—school plans are altered, home purchases are tenuous, even marriage arrangements are unclear. Many of us wake up wondering if it’s all a bad dream…