NYC Health Clinics Serving The Poor Hit Hard by Financial Fallout from Coronavirus

Daily News

4-27-20

Citing inequities in technology, reimbursement and a lack of traditional patient traffic, NY’s community health centers are challenged to sustain themselves during the pandemic

“Community health centers are really struggling now,” said Rose Duhan, president of the Community Health Care Association of New York State, which represents 70 centers around the state. “Without patients coming in, they’re unable to generate the revenue they need to pay staff.”

The Urban Health Plan, which operates a dozen clinics in the Bronx, Queens and Manhattan, also has had to furlough or cut pay for a third of its staff — about 350 people, said Paloma Hernandez, the health center’s president and CEO

“It’s a really big deal,” she said. “I think we’re going to start coming back up, but not at the level we were at before.”

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