We learned with pleasure — but above all with relief — that Mount Sinai Queens, the hospital serving Astoria and the surrounding area, will acquire a new state-of-the-art Intensive Care Unit within approximately a year and a half.
This is important news for the area’s residents and, of course, for the large Greek-American community, and it underscores and supports the impressive growth of this historic center of Hellenism.
As anyone who has visited in recent years can see, Astoria has changed dramatically. Where modest single-family homes and small businesses once stood, there are now apartment buildings and skyscrapers. Some areas, especially Long Island City, now resemble Manhattan.
However, preserving and continuing the area’s development depends on factors beyond its proximity to Manhattan. It needs good schools and, of course, good hospitals.
Although today’s Mount Sinai Queens bears no resemblance to the old Astoria General Hospital — aside from sharing the same location — there are still many cases in which seriously sick patients must be transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan in order to receive the appropriate medical treatment.
Now, following the announcement of the major upgrade of the Intensive Care Unit, such cases are expected to decrease significantly, and residents of the greater Astoria area will know that, in the event of an emergency, their local hospital will be able to provide the medical care they need.
And this has multiple positive effects that go beyond even this absolutely critical area of healthcare: it contributes to the overall further improvement of the area’s quality of life and its growth.
Fortunate then, are those members of our community who stayed in rather than leave for other areas in the previous years.
