On August 14, Governor Kathy Hochul announced in a press release that New York State will invest $27.5 million in expanding maternal and pediatric healthcare facilities at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens. “This new investment continues Governor Hochul’s actions to address the maternal mortality crisis, which continues to disproportionally impact women of color in New York and across the nation.”
The press release states, “The State’s investment will increase access to high-quality prenatal and mental healthcare by expanding the hospital’s Women’s Pavilion to more than double its current size. This investment will also enable the hospital to build a new, state-of-the-art Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), which will allow more local families to access care for critically ill and injured children without traveling miles away to other hospitals.”
“As New York’s first mom Governor, addressing the maternal mortality crisis is personal for me. Whether it’s investing in maternal health resources, securing first-in-the-nation paid prenatal leave, or increasing access to doulas, I’ll never stop working to ensure safe, healthy pregnancies for moms across our State,” Hochul conveyed in a statement.
Additionally, Hochul highlighted New York’s first-in-the-nation prenatal paid leave policy. The policy will take effect on January 1, and employees will receive an additional 20 hours of paid sick leave for prenatal care.
According to the official NY state website, Elmhurst Hospital Center (EHC) is the primary tertiary care provider in the borough of Queens. The hospital has 545 beds, a Level I Trauma Center, an Emergency Heart Care Station, and a 911 Receiving Hospital. Specialized areas include Surgery, Cardiology, Women’s Health, Pediatrics, Rehabilitation Medicine, and Renal and Mental Health Services. Elmhurst Hospital Center serves approximately one million people, and this community is recognized as the most ethnically diverse in the world.
