A Beacon of Hope During COVID-19

As an uninsured immigrant living in the epicenter of a pandemic, where do you seek medical care if symptoms of COVID-19 emerge? In New York City, that answer is New York City Health + Hospitals and, more specifically, the NYC Care program which funds clinicians in public hospitals and neighborhood-based primary clinics that provide reliable care to all New Yorkers, regardless of their income, immigration status or health coverage.

For five years, Provider Solutions & Development was the recruiting partner for this pioneering health system's NYC Care program. As the largest public health care system in the nation, it is supported by 11 hospitals, operates the nation’s largest federally qualified health center, employs a diverse workforce of more than 42,000 healthcare professionals, and serves more than a million New Yorkers annually. When we signed on as a recruiting partner, the aim was to greatly expand its primary care options.

Then COVID-19 began to take hold in these communities, and NYC Health + Hospitals pivoted almost immediately, funneling its resources into the need at hand. Within weeks, it opened eight COVID-19 testing sites, tripled its ICU bed capacity, added nearly 2,500 standard hospital beds and launched Docs4NYCNow!—a streamlined online credentialing portal that successfully recruited, credentialed and onboarded 1,000 medical providers in April 2020 alone. It also turned its ambulatory care sites into urgent care centers, opened a call center to triage COVID-related inquiries, and transitioned much of its primary care into telehealth care.

These measures have made a remarkable difference. The health system reached a major milestone in May of 2020, when it discharged its 6,000th COVID-19 patient. As the city begins its long road to healing and recovery, we want to take a moment to say thank you to NYC Health + Hospitals’ healthcare heroes who have shown remarkable courage under crisis, and continue to risk their own lives to save others.

Thank you NYC Health + Hospitals! We hope you hear us clapping.