Some in Sunset Park worry their experience of random violence will invoke a response more focused on carceral measures than addressing structural inequalities that shape public safety. “When I think about safety here, I think of how we need stimulus relief bills, unemployment and healthcare,” one local resident told City Limits. “Not police.”
“We must reject policies that single out, scapegoat, and sweep away the rights of our neighbors with mental illness.”
‘For the Black and Latinx communities in a constant struggle over their health, a return to normal is not good enough—they need a health revolution. Building this new vision of health will require privileged New Yorkers to support the same tactics the Young Lords successfully deployed over 50 years ago.’
Gov. Kathy Hochul recently signed the Health Equity Assessment Act, which advocates say will help address the impact of decades of hospital closures and consolidations across the state, which left certain communities—primarily low-income and neighborhoods of color—underserved when it comes to health facilities.
‘While Medicare Advantage plans are required to cover everything covered by original Medicare, they aren’t required to cover them in the same way or for the same price.’
‘The trauma and isolation of the pandemic has taken its toll. In The Bronx, we experienced disproportionately high numbers of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Until the mental health needs of our participants are addressed, it is difficult—if not impossible—for them to secure and retain employment.’
‘The continued expansion and funding of CCBHCs is not guaranteed, despite bipartisan support, and the pandemic will continue to fuel mental health and addiction crises.’
A Commonwealth Fund survey of 18,000 older residents across 10 different countries found that American seniors were more likely to have depleted their savings, lost income and gone without vital medical care during the pandemic.
The impasse between United Healthcare and Montefiore Hospital has put pressure on consumers and employers to figure out how to maintain access to trusted doctors amid a public-health crisis.
Tune in for a forum on health, healthcare and the disparities that put the Bronx at risk from everyday chronic disease and once-in-a-century pandemics.