NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst Opens Wellness Center for Healthcare Heroes
Welcoming space will provide physical, emotional and mental health support for 6,000 employees across all Elmhurst Hospital departments
Apr 08, 2024
NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, 545-bed Level 1 Trauma Center and community hospital located in Elmhurst, Queens, recently opened a brand-new Wellness Center to support its 6,000 employees. The center sponsors programs that revolve around the 8 dimensions of wellness, including physical, emotional, social, intellectual, financial, environmental, spiritual, and occupational wellness. The center is expected to host over 100,000 visits a year from doctors, nurses, and other members of the hospital’s healthcare team. The calming space includes amenities designed to help busy staff relax and destress, such as a coffee machine, snack kiosks, massage chairs and stations for board games, art projects, and creative activities. The Wellness Center also sponsors a variety of other programs, including mental health workshops, cultural celebrations, mediation sessions, and exercise activities throughout the hospital campus.
“I am so happy and excited to open this beautiful, welcoming space for our healthcare heroes,” said NYC Health + Hospitals CEO Dr. Helen Arteaga-Landaverde. “Our team provides exceptional care to our patients, but self-care is vital and necessary even as we take care of others. This Wellness Center will give our staff a safe place to get access to the resources they need to recharge in a busy environment.”
“The Workforce Wellness Center is a reflection of the hospital’s dedication to investing in our staff’s wellbeing,” said NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst’s Director of Workforce Wellness Tatiana Celcis, LCSW. “The Center is a safe haven for our staff to unwind, recharge, and get connected to mental health resources. The creation of this space solidifies a commitment to creating a culture of psychological safety and support for healthcare workers.”
“We are so thrilled to officially launch the Workforce Wellness Center, the cornerstone and new physical home of our Workforce Wellness programming at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst,” said Chief Wellness Officer Dr. Suzanne Bentley. “The Center was truly co-designed with our frontline staff colleagues and is a respite for staff, a place to press pause, to unwind, to connect with others, and a place to laugh together and also to be vulnerable together. We are proud of all that the Center offers and I couldn’t be happier to hear supportive conversations and connections happening in line for the coffee machine, staff exhaling sitting in the massage chairs, and small groups sitting down in our comfortable chairs reflecting together. We are all in it together in healthcare, one team, one Elmhurst family, and it is a privilege to get to help support our incredible staff.”
“Our healthcare workers provide our communities with the highest quality care that patients deserve,” said New York City Council Member Shekar Krishnan. “Here at Elmhurst Hospital, which was the epicenter of the epicenter during the height of the COVID pandemic, our health professionals, residents, and interns face incredible amounts of stress. I’m proud to support the amazing team and am so excited about the new Wellness Center, providing our healthcare heroes with a much-needed space to unwind and decompress from their daily challenges.”
“Elmhurst Hospital’s new H3 Workforce Wellness Center stands as a beacon of care in our community for the more than 6,000 dedicated medical professionals and hospital staff who provide us care,” said New York State Assembly Member Catalina Cruz. “I am grateful to Helen Arteaga Landaverde, CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, for supporting this initiative, and to Dr. Suzanna Bentley, Chief Wellness Officer, for addressing the wellness of the doctors, staff, and medical residents who work tirelessly to care for our neighbors. In light of the extraordinary demands placed on our healthcare heroes, particularly amid the COVID-19 pandemic, this Wellness Center is a testament to Elmhurst Hospital’s unwavering commitment to nurturing those who commit their lives to caring for our community.”
“I am so proud of the work Elmhurst Hospital continues to do for the Queens community,” said New York State Assembly Member Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas. “From being a beacon of hope and example of resilience during the pandemic, to ensuring my own recovery, the staff at Elmhurst Hospital are deserving of all the flowers, celebration and care. The opening of the Wellness Center serves as a reminder that our dedicated hospital staff and essential workers need respite. The Wellness Center will help reinforce the great work staff are already doing. As we learned during the pandemic, pouring into the mental wellbeing of the hospital’s staff and front liners is essential for our community’s overall wellbeing. Congratulations on this incredible milestone.”
For more information on programs and services at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, please call 718-334-4000 or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ElmhurstHosp.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Atiya Butler, NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, 917 319-5167
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About NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst
NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, part of the NYC Health + Hospitals health care system, is the major tertiary care provider in the borough of Queens. The 545-bed hospital is a Level 1 Trauma Center, an Emergency Heart Care Station, a Thrombectomy Capable Stroke Receiving Center, a Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) Center of Excellence and a 911-Receiving Hospital. It is a premiere health care organization for several specialties, including surgery, cardiology, women’s health, pediatrics, rehabilitation medicine, renal services, and mental health services. Last year, the hospital received close to 700,000 ambulatory care visits and over 130,000 emergency room visits. The hospital has been nationally-ranked and named as a “Best Regional Hospital” by US News and World Report, and has been noted for providing exceptional care in key areas, including Heart Failure, Heart Attack, Stroke, Hip Fracture, Kidney Failure, Orthopedics, Pneumonia, and COPD. Stay connected on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ElmhurstHosp.
About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 43,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.