Elmhurst Hospital, the only hospital in close proximity for Jackson Heights’ residents, is notorious for being an overcrowded hospital. Providing primary, secondary, and tertiary medical care for the one million residents of western Queens, Elmhurst Hospital is bound to become congested with patients. Consequently, the waiting time is ridiculously long. “When I was teaching, the H1N1 virus was still an epidemic. My students would tell me stories of them waiting eight to nine hours in order to get vaccinated” said Daniel Dromm, the Council member representing Jackson Heights. “This overcrowding dilemma is triggered by the demographics of Jackson Heights.”
Jackson Heights is home to a lot of undocumented and poor families. Families in such situations cannot afford their own doctor for either financial reasons or illegal status reasons, or both. Consequently, they select Elmhurst Hospital as their “primary doctor,” for according to the law public hospitals must first treat a patient before asking questions. Moreover, since Elmhurst Hospital believes in “money not being a priority”, it grants its patients financial assistance regardless of their immigration status. Hence, people who can’t pay for a doctor’s visit upfront are more likely to go to Elmhurst Hospital than to a private doctor, decreasing the risk of revealing their illegal status or going in debt.
However, these financial payment plans don’t alleviate the overcrowding of patients problem that is haunting the hallways of Elmhurst Hospital. In fact, lenient financial policies lead to overcrowding. Since, Elmhurst Hospital is the “primary doctor” for many undocumented and low-income families, many families tend to take their children to the Emergency Room with illness that don’t require emergency help, such as a common cold. Essentially, such visits increase the waiting time in the Elmhurst’s emergency rooms, which is very inefficient, ultimately forcing Elmhurst Hospital to brainstorm solutions for the overcrowding problem.
One remedy Elmhurst Hospital provides is handing out pamphlets that answer questions regarding how to treat colds and at what point it is necessary to take a child to see a physician. It is vital to note that these pamphlets are written in various languages in order to accommodate families of different backgrounds. In addition, Daniel Dromm donated $1 million dollars in funding for Emergency Department Renovation at Elmhurst Hospital Center to expand the Emergency Room. He also expanded the Chest Pain Observation Unit. This unit will be used to observe patients with chest pain, to expedite the differential diagnosis process and divert patients, when medically appropriate, to community-based services instead of admitting them for inpatient services.
Another solution that Elmhurst Hospital executed was organizing the days as to when greenmarkets can come to Jackson Heights and sell the fresh and organically grown foods. There are two greenmarkets that visit Jackson Height’s residents, one is year round and one is every six months, both of which take food stamps. This maximizes the chances of low-income families to purchase such healthy products. Also, Elmhurst Hospital holds a series of free workshops that educate the importance of healthy eating. Elmhurst Hospital believes that if one eats right, his or her medical problems would decline, ultimately declining doctor visits.
Without a doubt, eliminating the overcrowding dilemma requires taking baby steps. Presenting the community with multiple resources is just one way of going about solving this problem. Despite this issue, doctors do an amazing job in getting to every patient and providing fair health treatment. Because these doctors are so experienced at working at a rapid pace, “if you are in an accident, heart attack, or trauma, then you want to go to Elmhurst” (Daniel Dormm).
