The COVID-19 Pandemic Has Compounded Existing Challenges

Safety net hospitals predominantly serve the neighborhoods most affected by COVID-19, with communities of color representing up to 76% of residents in safety net hospitals’ primary service areas. As such, these hospitals and communities experienced disproportionately higher rates of COVID-related hospitalizations and deaths compared to other areas in the City.

While COVID-19 laid bare these tremendous disparities, they are an extension of the historical disinvestment in the low-income, communities of color served by safety net hospitals, many of which are formerly redlined neighborhoods. In these neighborhoods:

• The proportion of Black residents is more than nine times higher compared to wealthier neighborhoods served by private hospitals.

• Poverty rates are more than three times higher, with approximately 23% of residents living below the poverty line.

• Rates of uninsurance and poor health outcomes (e.g., obesity) are significantly higher.

The pandemic has exacerbated these disparities and the challenges faced by safety net hospitals. Already stretched thin by pre-pandemic cuts and bare-bones staffing, the additional strain from responding to COVID-19 has very much affected safety net hospitals’ bottom line. In fact, systemic underfunding of New York’s safety net system has left them at the breaking point in meeting ongoing COVID-19 surges and the care needs of communities.