As you’re reading this, I am laying at home with that right knee I

busted several weeks ago, elevated atop three or four pillows. For me, at this
moment, I’m writing to you on the night before the operation
on that knee. I hope that by
the time you are reading, I am one of the people reading this right along with you.

I never thought about any problems with this routine operation, until the week
before my procedure. A little
girl went into Jamaica Hospital for a simple procedure on
her elbow.

The Doctors say she had a bad reaction to the anesthesia, and that is why she slipped into a coma. Needless to say when any of us hear about something like that, it makes us think about all the things we take for granted. Things that are routine, but inherently dangerous. They range from climbing in your own shower to driving your car to getting on a plane.

But while the plight of this little girl and her family did make me think about that, it also made me think about healthcare or a lack there of in general in our community.

Southeast queens sits in a virtual no-man’s land of healthcare, with

Hospitals at each end of the medical DMZ (de-medicalized zone). Jamaica and Mary Immaculate are to the west and Long Island Jewish to the east. Both places provide a decent standard of care, but one has to go quite a way to get that care.

Right now, it’s unlikely the city will open a facility in the heart of

SE Queens anytime soon. In fact administrators would rather sell the ones they have now.

Even though the time for a hospital here has long since arrived, it will be up to the private sector to make it happen. It’s not like people here can’t afford to pay for quality care . . . The per capita income in SEQ is among the highest in the state according to the 1990 census.

So what is the problem . . . if Pathmark, and Blockbuster can make a profit, why can’t a medical consortium?

I remember when I was about . . . oh say 11 or 12. I was sick with food

poisoning and I was dehydrated. And, I lost weight . . . since it was awhile before we all knew it wasn’t just a bad stomachache.

My frantic dad put me in a car to rush me to the hospital. It was a long drive. There were a moderate amount of cars on the road that day. The stress and the distance made for another chapter in this saga, as my dad’s car was side swiped by another vehicle about a block from the hospital.

I don’t know whose fault it was since I was crumpled in the back seat. To me . . . to this day . . . it was clear that we were driving too long to get to medical help.

I know similarly stressful — even frightful — moments are repeated every day in our neighborhoods. Moms, dads and people in general with an emergency are not only wondering about how long it will take their 911 called to be answered, but they are also wondering how long it will take for the ambulance to get to an emergency room.

Yeah, I know there are a lot of other things on our plate as a community, but I know tactical healthcare has to be of concern to you . . . especially in light of aging generations who remain in SEQ and don’t move to Florida where there is a medical facility on virtually every block.

The little town where my mother now lives has a population half the size of SEQ has three main medical facilities and a spin-off emergency triage center. Before we lobby for any more superstores, franchises or supermarkets, a play should be made to a healthcare corporation about putting a facility in the heart of out nabe.

There is certainly enough real estate for it. Doctors already live here, so it’s not like we have to go looking for them. And if any doctors are reading this, think about talking to your friends about

forming your own corporation and making it happen. It doesn’t have to be big to make money.

So there is my pitch. There are enough successful people here who could make this happen or at the very least get the ball rolling.

Is it a risk?

Of course, but most things worth having usually are. We have been short on this one for a while but I think now at least, we can do something about it ourselves.

— Gary Anthony Ramsay is a weekend anchor and
journalist on the all-news cable station NY1
and a long-time resident of Queens.