Forest Hills Hospital Nears Capacity; Might Halt Some Surgeries

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Patients at two Queens hospitals might have to postpone non-emergency surgeries as of this week.

On Nov. 26th, as news of the possibly more transmissible omicron variant spread through the country, Gov. Kathy Hochul issued an executive order postponing elective surgeries from Dec. 3rd through Jan. 15th at state hospitals with limited capacity; defined as hospitals that only have 10 percent or less of staffed bed capacity remaining.

"We know [the omicron variant] is coming. But here's the good news, we're not defenseless," Hochul said at a news conference on Monday, where she pledged to increase hospital bed capacity at burdened facilities, and urged New Yorkers to get vaccinated amid a statewide uptick in COVID cases and hospitalizations.

Most of New York's 37 bed-limited, short-staffed hospitals are upstate — where hospitalizations are up 150 percent, Hochul said — but two facilities are in Queens: Queens Hospital Center and Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, according to data reported by Spectrum News.

A representative from Northwell Health, which operates LIJ Forest Hills, praised Hochul's "prompt response to a possible increase in COVID-19 patients" but disputes the state's data, saying that the hospital is not nearing capacity.

"Northwell remains confident that it can handle any potential increase in patient volume without impacting any necessary services. Since the beginning of the pandemic, our health system – which operates 22 hospitals – has implemented a portfolio of strategies aimed at expanding hospital capacity, increasing staffing, and ensuring each facility has an adequate amount of supplies and equipment despite any surges in COVID-19 hospitalizations," the healthcare provider said in a statement.

Barring capacity changes, which state health officials said could happen, both of the Queens hospitals will have to postpone elective surgeries on Friday until the state's department of health reevaluates on Jan. 15th — or beforehand, if those hospitals are able to up capacity and staff, Hochul said.

NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi, however, said on Wednesday that he doesn't think that any hospitals in the city — including the two in Queens — will have to cancel elective procedures.

"Each hospital is... making sure they have the ability to staff up and add hospital beds as needed" before the Governor's executive order goes into effect, he said, adding that the best way for New Yorkers to reduce hospital capacity is by getting vaccinated.

Mayor Bill de Blasio added that hospital capacity is "an area of real concern" going into winter, especially with the delta and omicron variants, but said that the city is poised to support healthcare workers.

"Overwhelmingly our hospitals are doing very well, but we have a history of supporting them during very tough times in 2020, so we know how to do that," he said.

The hospital crisis in Queens

In Queens, however, reports of hospital bed shortages highlight an issue that predates the pandemic: Queens is the most underserved per-capita in terms of hospital beds among the city's five boroughs.

There's only 1.5 hospital beds per 1,000 residents in the World's Borough, compared to Manhattan where there are 6.4 beds per 1,000 residents, one study published in June 2020 found.

Four hospitals across the borough have closed since 2004, including two that served the central Queens neighborhoods of Forest Hills and Rego Park.

Healthcare, as a result, became a major issue for several candidates running for office in Forest Hills this year, including Council Member-elect Lynn Schulman, who called on the state's health commissioner to expand hospital access across Queens as part of her campaign.

Schulman told Patch that the single most pressing issue facing her district is the lack of hospital capacity; a point that ultimately resonated with voters who voted her into office.

She continued to champion healthcare issues after the primary, too — in Oct. the Democratic nominee shared that a breast cancer diagnosis last summer further revealed to her the inequities of the healthcare system, which she hopes to address on the Council.

"My journey magnified the struggles women and others face in our broken healthcare system. I look forward to fixing these disparities as a member of the city's 1st majority female Council," she wrote.