Advocating for community health

 

 

Southeast Queens United In Support of Health (SQUISH)

CPHS is an active member of SQUISH, a community coalition in Southeast Queens. When the closings of Mary Immaculate and St. John's Hospitals were announced, CPHS served as a bridge between the community and the State Health Department to raise awareness of the impact of hospital closings in the medically underserved community. This resulted in a Community Health Needs Analysis of Queens by the SDOH and $30 million were made available for primary care.

SQUISH continues to document the problems in access to healthcare services and is currently working to get medical care and attention to Southeast Queens.

SQUISH Wordpress here.
SQUISH Talking Points.

 

Beyond Ground Zero (BGZ)

CPHS continues to work as a part of the BGZ coalition in its continuing efforts to ensure that all 9/11 clean-up workers and low-income residents of the Lower East Side and Chinatown receive screening and treatment for post-9/11 illnesses and problems. CPHS played an important role in encouraging Bellevue Hospital, to begin providing testing and services for residents and local workers who were physically affected by 9-11. This resulted in a groundbreaking collaborative program between BGZ and Bellevue Hospital known as the 9-11 Community Health Initiative. This program later got funded by NYC and renamed the WTC Environmental Health Center. It is the only 9-11 health program open to residents and  clean-up workers.

Recent federal legislation (the Zadroga Act) provides additional federal funding to ensure that everyone physically affected by 9-11 is eligible for care.

For more information, go to the Beyond Ground Zero official website here.