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The Devastating Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Breast Cancer Care Among Medically Underserved Populations at Two New York City Public Hospitals

The COVID-19 pandemic has stretched hospitals to their capacities and has forced them to restructure and divert resources to accommodate the influx of critically ill patients. Surgical specialties are particularly vulnerable to restructuring given the need for highly trained personnel with intensive...

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Autores principales: Escobar, Natalie, Crown, Angelena, Pocock, Ben, Joseph, Kathie-Ann
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10455062/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37637441
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/AS9.0000000000000018
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author Escobar, Natalie
Crown, Angelena
Pocock, Ben
Joseph, Kathie-Ann
author_facet Escobar, Natalie
Crown, Angelena
Pocock, Ben
Joseph, Kathie-Ann
author_sort Escobar, Natalie
collection PubMed
description The COVID-19 pandemic has stretched hospitals to their capacities and has forced them to restructure and divert resources to accommodate the influx of critically ill patients. Surgical specialties are particularly vulnerable to restructuring given the need for highly trained personnel with intensive care unit (ICU) experience and procedural skills and need for ventilators and spaces that can function as ICUs. The diversion of hospital resources and redeployment of staff to the care of COVID patients has led to unintended consequences, including delays in care for patients with oncologic diagnoses, such as breast cancer. These unintended consequences are illustrated by the COVID-19 experiences of 2 New York City public hospitals: Bellevue Hospital and Elmhurst Hospital. The Breast Services of both hospitals treat the city’s vulnerable, medically underserved breast cancer patients. Despite similar patient populations, Bellevue and Elmhurst had divergent COVID-19 experiences. With a larger surge capacity and an affiliation with New York University, the Breast Service at Bellevue Hospital was able to continue to offer essential breast operations, albeit at reduced volumes, whereas the Breast Service at Elmhurst Hospital was completely shut down. These experiences serve as a harbinger of the continually widening health care disparities and force hospital systems and policymakers to critically examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on underserved patient populations that receive care at smaller public hospitals.
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spelling pubmed-104550622023-08-26 The Devastating Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Breast Cancer Care Among Medically Underserved Populations at Two New York City Public Hospitals Escobar, Natalie Crown, Angelena Pocock, Ben Joseph, Kathie-Ann Ann Surg Open Surgical Perspectives The COVID-19 pandemic has stretched hospitals to their capacities and has forced them to restructure and divert resources to accommodate the influx of critically ill patients. Surgical specialties are particularly vulnerable to restructuring given the need for highly trained personnel with intensive care unit (ICU) experience and procedural skills and need for ventilators and spaces that can function as ICUs. The diversion of hospital resources and redeployment of staff to the care of COVID patients has led to unintended consequences, including delays in care for patients with oncologic diagnoses, such as breast cancer. These unintended consequences are illustrated by the COVID-19 experiences of 2 New York City public hospitals: Bellevue Hospital and Elmhurst Hospital. The Breast Services of both hospitals treat the city’s vulnerable, medically underserved breast cancer patients. Despite similar patient populations, Bellevue and Elmhurst had divergent COVID-19 experiences. With a larger surge capacity and an affiliation with New York University, the Breast Service at Bellevue Hospital was able to continue to offer essential breast operations, albeit at reduced volumes, whereas the Breast Service at Elmhurst Hospital was completely shut down. These experiences serve as a harbinger of the continually widening health care disparities and force hospital systems and policymakers to critically examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on underserved patient populations that receive care at smaller public hospitals. Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. 2020-10-19 /pmc/articles/PMC10455062/ /pubmed/37637441 http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/AS9.0000000000000018 Text en Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) , where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal.
spellingShingle Surgical Perspectives
Escobar, Natalie
Crown, Angelena
Pocock, Ben
Joseph, Kathie-Ann
The Devastating Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Breast Cancer Care Among Medically Underserved Populations at Two New York City Public Hospitals
title The Devastating Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Breast Cancer Care Among Medically Underserved Populations at Two New York City Public Hospitals
title_full The Devastating Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Breast Cancer Care Among Medically Underserved Populations at Two New York City Public Hospitals
title_fullStr The Devastating Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Breast Cancer Care Among Medically Underserved Populations at Two New York City Public Hospitals
title_full_unstemmed The Devastating Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Breast Cancer Care Among Medically Underserved Populations at Two New York City Public Hospitals
title_short The Devastating Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Breast Cancer Care Among Medically Underserved Populations at Two New York City Public Hospitals
title_sort devastating impact of the covid-19 pandemic on breast cancer care among medically underserved populations at two new york city public hospitals
topic Surgical Perspectives
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10455062/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37637441
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/AS9.0000000000000018
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