Read on Twitter
There is plenty to take away from this piece (which was well-done by @brianmrosenthal), but I thought it would be important to lend some perspective on Staten Island’s approach — the only borough without a public hospital. Thread 1/6 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/21/nyregion/coronavirus-hospital-usta-queens.html?referringSource=articleShare
Note this tidbit: “In past disasters, such as during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the state created a unified system across multiple agencies to transfer patients between hospitals. That did not happen during the coronavirus pandemic.” 2/6
From my conversations with @HeyNowJO and Dr. Ginny Mantello, it was much different on Staten Island.
The borough had an incident command system in place weeks before the worst days of the virus — connecting the borough’s health care components. 3/6 https://www.silive.com/coronavirus/2020/03/bp-oddo-nursing-homes-of-grave-concern-at-borough-hall-amid-coronavirus-spread.html
The borough had an incident command system in place weeks before the worst days of the virus — connecting the borough’s health care components. 3/6 https://www.silive.com/coronavirus/2020/03/bp-oddo-nursing-homes-of-grave-concern-at-borough-hall-amid-coronavirus-spread.html
In a letter to Gov. Cuomo, Oddo said the borough had a “unique situation” in reference to how the Island connected its nursing home and other health care facilities — something the @nytimes story shows NYC struggled to do. 4/6 https://www.silive.com/coronavirus/2020/05/bp-oddo-calls-on-cuomo-to-relax-nursing-home-testing-mandate.html
As Staten Island had to fight for staff and PPE, that partnership enabled the borough to limit hospital influx — making the best of a truly difficult situation further exacerbated by the governor’s March 25 nursing home directive. 5/6 https://www.silive.com/coronavirus/2020/04/how-staten-island-nursing-homes-stepped-up-to-face-hospital-coronavirus-overflow.html
Most importantly, the Staten Island incident command system is analyzing its efforts, so — as Mantello said — it can “be prepared for the next round ... so we can go back and critique and analyze what worked and what didn’t."
6/6 https://www.silive.com/coronavirus/2020/05/wolf-in-the-hen-house-a-look-at-how-coronavirus-ravaged-si-nursing-homes.html
6/6 https://www.silive.com/coronavirus/2020/05/wolf-in-the-hen-house-a-look-at-how-coronavirus-ravaged-si-nursing-homes.html
