News and Events – May/June2023

SUMMER BENEFIT GALA 2023

Thank you for making our 2023 Gala successful. Your support raised vital funds to keep our most crucial “more than healthcare” programs running: Life Skills, the Good Health Shuttle and our education programming, including Camp Rise Up. Because of you, we can do whatever it takes to bring healthcare, relief and comfort to children and families who need it most.

See you next year!

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See our new video, debuted at the Benefit

New York City students imagine the next Floating Hospital healthcare center

Students involved in the ACE mentor program, which for the last 20 years has been offering New York City high school kids invaluable construction, design and engineering experience in simulated work environments, recently wrapped up a mock project for The Floating Hospital: a second flagship healthcare center on the waterfront in Brooklyn. ACE mentor James Barry, project manager during the construction of the Floating Hospital’s flagship clinic in Long Island City, mentored the student construction team (each ACE project is divided, per the ACE acronym, into architecture, construction and engineering sections). While purely theoretical, the ACE projects provide young people with a priceless opportunity to experience a real-world building environment. Says Barry, “In our first in-person semester since the pandemic, we were amazed at the students’ drive and interest in the project. These students will go to college and run our industry someday.”

Is the Covid pandemic over?

On May 5, the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that Covid-19 is no longer a public health emergency. Reactions from the media and the scientific community have run the spectrum from relief to skepticism.

But is it time to throw caution to the wind?

“While the spread of the disease has been significantly controlled, and the number of cases and deaths has substantially declined, it doesn’t mean Covid is gone: we’re still seeing new strains—but even with new strains, there aren’t any significant upticks in hospitalizations, deaths or positivity at this point,” remarked Floating Hospital’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Shani Andre.

According to the WHO Covid-19 United States of America dashboard, May 8, 2023, saw 93,260 cases of Covid-19, a rise of nearly 21% over the previous week*. Hospitalizations and deaths still number in the thousands per week.

Mask requirements have been relaxed in our clinics though we still advise caution and common sense for visitors and staff. Clinical staff evaluating patients for suspected Covid are required to wear masks. Additionally, all staff returning to work after a positive Covid diagnosis must mask for ten days post-diagnosis. We recommend masks (if feeling unwell), social distancing, and frequent hand washing for those visiting the clinic. It is a healthy idea to mask up in any crowded space, especially during the respiratory and flu seasons, generally from October to March.

Optimism is in the air, but protecting yourself, your family and your community is as vital as ever.

*https://covid19.who.int/region/amro/country/us

Patient Tameka Cooke shares her story and her gratitude

When Tameka Cooke began her relationship with The Floating Hospital, she was struggling. Now she’s a volunteer and advocate. She says The Hospital is her “safe place” and credits her providers with saving her life. This April, Tameka told her story to her hometown paper in Kingston, Jamaica, The Gleaner. Read it here.

Tameka was also featured in a recent The Floating Hospital video.

This post featured in our monthly newsletter from March/April 2023.

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Other posts from this newsletter:

Keeping an eye on healthy vision

Charting a steady course