June 25, 2020
Mitchell Katz, M.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
NYC Health + Hospitals
125 Worth St.
New York, NY 10013
Dear Dr. Katz:
We seek to take important new steps to ensure that NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler on Roosevelt
Island is safe and supports community institutions.
The pandemic stretched Coler's traditional role of providing long-term care to the poor to
extreme limits, as we noted in our April 17, 2020 letter to you at the height of the crisis.
We sought clarity and data to bring transparency to numerous and sometimes conflicting
accounts of conditions there. These included PPE availability, staffing, and the safety of patients
and nursing home residents as the new 350-bed facility opened to handle an overflow of what
turned out to be new, COVID-positive patients.
We recognized that epidemiologists have continued to be struggling to understand the virus, its
pathology, and methods of transmission and that the Coler building's mid-20th century
construction preceded modern heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. Therefore, we
asked that all residents of the nursing home portion of the building be tested once a week for
COVID. To our knowledge, the testing did not occur.
We believe that it is essential that community leaders and stakeholders continue the conversation
and exchange of information with you and your Coler senior management team. Accordingly, 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 treatment.
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.
Sincerely,
Carolyn Maloney Gale A. Brewer José M. Serrano
Congresswoman Manhattan Borough State Senator
President
Rebecca A. Seawright Ben Kallos
Assembly Member Council Member
