Mobilizing a Public Health Response: Supporting the Perinatal Needs of New Yorkers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Excerpt

In March 2020 New York City became the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. By mid-March, nearly all the 6500 employees of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC Health Department), the largest public health department in the nation, began working from home. Reports quickly emerged of the immense stress on hospital and public health systems, with critical personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages, lack of testing capacity, and strained emergency response. At the same time, NYC Health Department staff were hearing daily updates about a growing number of COVID-19 cases and deaths among New Yorkers. Agency home visiting staff learned that one of their colleagues had died from COVID-19, and two others became ill, with one requiring hospitalization. While in mourning for our colleagues and the city, it became apparent that, once again, Black and Brown people were disproportionately impacted by a health condition; in NYC the age adjusted rate of hospitalization and death among Black/African-American and Hispanic/Latinx people was twice as high as among White and Asian/Pacific Islander people.(NYC Health 2020a) Meanwhile the NYC Health Department continued to do its work serving pregnant and parenting families, staying focused on the most marginalized New Yorkers, predominantly Black and Brown people residing in neighborhoods that have been intentionally disinvested in for decades due to systemic racism, resulting in high rates of poverty, poor housing, unemployment and chronic stress, and limited access to healthy and affordable food, all factors that jeopardize people’s health. We were tasked with communicating public health messages of safety and prevention; social distancing, universal precautions, vigilant hand hygiene, and staying home were key. We also continued our work to build the Maternity Hospital Quality Improvement Network, a multifaceted hospital and community-based partnership with specific efforts to tackle institutional racism and assure safe and respectful perinatal care for all.(NYC Health 2018, 2020c). …