Primary Care

Grantee Name

Queens Library Foundation, Inc.

Funding Area

Primary Care

Publication Date

August 2015

Grant Amount

$250,000

Grant Date:

May 2011–August 2014

The Rockaway Peninsula is a community of 116,000 that is considered the poorest in Queens, with more than 7,700 households living in poverty.

Residents are also in isolation: two toll bridges and a narrow roadway to Nassau County are their only connections to the mainland. The neighborhood has been designated a primary care shortage area; many residents are uninsured or have gone without insurance; and access to health care was further limited by the closing of three local hospitals. To help increase access to primary care for the community, NYHealth awarded a grant to Queens Library Foundation to develop a consistent, coordinated, large-scale health education and referral program throughout its local library network.

Outcomes and Lessons Learned

  •  Referred 326 people to Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health Centers (Addabbo) for primary care and dental care services. Many of the referrals made appointments and continued to seek care at Addabbo;
  • Hosted nearly 300 health education programs—reaching more than 6,000 individuals—at 6 community libraries in southern and southeast Queens. Survey results showed that 92% of participants reported an increase in health knowledge; and
  • Screened 2,131 individuals, exceeding its original goal of screening 225 residents (an almost tenfold increase).