Roosevelt Island Coler Residents And Supporters Demand Nursing Home Lives Matter At Protest Rally Today Opposing Covid 19 Patients Moving Into Building – Manhattan Borough President Brewer Told Tonight That HHC Will Not Move Covid Patients To Coler

.@NYCHealthSystem’s Coler Nursing Home residents on Roosevelt Island are the 500 most vulnerable NYers in our city. I’m calling on @NYCMayor @DrKatzNYCHH to halt new transfers of COVID patients to this facility, esp. as 14 staff & 2 residents have already tested positive. pic.twitter.com/12tqcd4obm

— Gale A. Brewer (@galeabrewer) December 19, 2020

This afternoon, Roosevelt Island residents joined with Roosevelt Island Coler Rehab & Skilled Nursing Facility residents and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer for a Nursing Home Lives Matter protest rally to oppose any plans by the NYC Health & Hospitals Corp (NYC HHC) placing Covid-19 patients in the Coler building. As reported earlier this week, Coler residents worried that:

… Coler Rehabilitation & Nursing Care Center is making contingency plans to re-open the emergency Covid hospital inside Coler. Coler is not a hospitalit is home to over 500 vulnerable residents with disabilities who are at high risk of serious illness and death from Covid…

Roosevelt Island resident Nicole Izsak described the demands being made by Nursing Home Lives Matter followed by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer lending her support.

Nursing Home Lives Matter organizer, Open Doors Poet and Coler resident Vincent Pierce reports on the aims of the group. Mr Pierce spoke from behind a Coler fence

that he is not allowed to exit with the aid of Open Doors Dexter Ciprian repeating his statement with a loudspeaker.

The NYC HHC sent this email to Fox 5 News today:

NYC Health + Hospitals has no plans to open the Roosevelt Island Medical Center to respond to the current increase in COVID-19-related hospitalizations. NYC Health + Hospitals priority remains the safety of its patients, residents, and staff for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the help of our heroic frontline providers, we will manage any increase in patients with our continuing commitment to ensure that all infection control measures are followed for the safety of all under our care.

In a statement this evening after the rally, Ms Brewer reported:

It seems as though they will not be transferring new patients to the Coler facility, but the community leaders, residents and my fellow elected officials and I will remain vigilant and watchful. I am grateful to Dr. Katz for this news.

Here’s December 14 letter sent by Manhattan Borough President Brewer to Mayor deBlasio and HHC President Dr Mitchell Katz

and Dr Katz’s December 18 reply.

This is an ongoing story. Stay tuned for more.