Bronx Hospitals: A New Analysis

By: Joshua Brooks

On July 26th there was an interesting article in The New York Times. This article appeared under the New York region part of the Times and it was entitled “In Bronx, a Fight for Health and Dignity.” While reading this article, all sorts of feelings were aroused in me.

This article is basically about the crappy healthcare that is associated with Bronx hospitals.
Gloria Altieri, who runs a child development center in a public school, is the focus of this story, along with people that she has come in contact with that have been mistreated in Bronx medical facilities.

Preposterous. If I was to describe in one word the type of misuse and mistreatment that is described throughout the article, I think that is the word that I would use. I mean, at one point a patient went to seek help for aid payments for her handicapped son and she was told by a disgruntled administrator, ''It is not my fault you had a retarded kid.” Is this the type of attitude that is being shown to people who are in need of help in the Bronx? People go to the hospital for help, not so they can be abused and insulted.

I think that this adds to the already diminishing image of the Bronx. We are already known as the most polluted and unhealthy borough. Do we want to be known as the get-mistreated-and insulted-when-you-go-to-the-hospital borough? No, being a Bronx resident all my life, I feel that the Bronx has much more to offer than those potential stereotypes.

Reading this article reminds me of the movie John Q. John Q relates to the issues of health care mistreatment and maltreatment at medical facilities that are supposed to help you. Perhaps, the director of John Q had the Bronx in mind when he wrote that movie