Roosevelt Island Elected Officials Convene CB 8 Coler Task Force To Monitor Nursing Facility Treatment Of Residents, Shield Whistleblowers From Retribution And Increase Health & Hospitals Corp Transparency - Watch Video Of Virtual Coler Town Hall Questions From Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer To Coler CEO Robert Hughes
Roosevelt Island residents have been greatly concerned with reports of inadequate treatment received by residents at NYC Health & Hospitals Corp (H&HC) Coler Skilled Nursing and Rehab Facility (Coler) during the Coronavirus Pandemic as reported in the NY Post
Interesting: After @NYCHealthSystem told @nypost the accusations of mistreatment at Coler were "simply false" @NYCMayor expresses concern. "If something went wrong in the middle of this crisis I want to get to the bottom of it." Says H+H will investigate.https://t.co/5N14o4Wu6U— Sally Goldenberg (@SallyGold) May 18, 2020
and expressed by Open Doors Poet/Coler resident Jay Molina
On June 25, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer hosted a Virtual Town Hall to discuss issues and answer community questons regarding treatment of Coler residents, or lack thereof, at the Roosevelt Island Skilled Nursing Facility during the Coronavirus Pandemic. Also, attending the Virtual Coler Town Hall were elected officials including Roosevelt Island NY State Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright, Coler Chief Executive Officer Robert Hughes, Coler resident Vincent Pierce, Manhattan Community Board 8 Chair Alida Camp and concerned Roosevelt Island residents.
Assembly Member Seawright began the Town Hall reading a June 25 letter sent from elected official to H&HC President Mitch Katz. According to this excerpt of the letter:
... we are constituting a community-based Coler Task Force under the auspices of Community Board 8, chaired by Alida Camp, CB8’s Chair and a professional mediator to be called upon when necessary. The Task Force will be composed of Coler residents and families, local stakeholders and elected officials. The Task Force will identify issues of concern and obtain timely responses from Health + Hospitals senior management, facilitate tours of Coler for members of the committee and elected officials, and ensure healthcare workers or residents who speak out are shielded from any retribution. We ask that senior-level officials from H + H be designated to work with the task force to ensure the highest communication and cooperation. Many of Coler's patients and staff are people of color, and we are particularly concerned about any disparities in care or treatmentHere's full video of the Coler Town Hall.
We believe that the Task Force will play a valuable role in working with Health + Hospitals to bring clarity to the operations at Coler, especially in COVID testing and in the understanding of protocols. We believe that the Task Force will move us toward our mutual goal of protecting patients, supporting staff, and resolving issues at Coler.
