In March 2020, the New York City region emerged as the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, soon after the country’s first coronavirus infection was discovered. NYC hospitals and emergency rooms were overwhelmed with fatally-ill COVID-19 patients while facing dire shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) — masks, gloves and gowns — for medical staff and frontline workers. By April, NYC accounted for 25% of COVID-19 deaths in the United States.
Some of the hardest-hit communities included poor and densely-populated neighborhoods in north-central Queens with high immigrant populations, including Korean Americans living in Flushing. Public hospitals like the Queens Hospital Center and the Elmhurst Hospital Center became overloaded with patients, operating at over 100% capacity without adequate PPE nor personnel.
Our Contributions
The Foundation fulfilled the needs of the greater NYC community by quickly sourcing and purchasing 10,000 highest medical grade coveralls (ASTM F1671 / F1671M certified) from a South Korean manufacturer, in addition to another 10,000 from Taiwan–at a time when they were logistically impossible to obtain and most urgently required.
These life-saving, antiviral protective gowns were distributed to five hospitals in the NY/NJ area: Mount Sinai Hospital, NYU Langone Medical Center, Elmhurst Hospital Center, Queens Hospital Center, and Holy Name Medical Center (where there is a separate Korean Medical Program to serve the large Korean American population living in Bergen County).
In addition, the coveralls were donated to Korean-American Medical Practitioners Association of New York (KAMPANY), Korean American Association of Greater New York (KAAGNY), the Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York (KCS) as well as five nursing homes with high concentration of Korean seniors.
The donation was extended to Veterans Home in Paramus, NJ after a New York Times article exposed the lack of PPE at the facility that cared for many Korean War veterans.
Our Impact
Short-term
The expeditious donations of the personal protective equipment (PPE) helped meet urgent needs during the most pressing time of the pandemic in NYC and helped saved countless lives.
It provided essential protection to frontline workers at five major hospitals and to staff at Korean American organizations that serve the most vulnerable Koreans through free medical aid and food relief programs.
Long-term
Moreover, the Foundation’s contributions have established lasting impact by helping to establish goodwill for NYC’s Korean community.
The donations were greatly appreciated by the hospitals’ chief medical officers, as well as the CEO of the veterans home (operated by the New Jersey state government), and local elected officials who will remember these donations for years to come.