Interview with Director at Mount Sinai Hospital
From The Peopling of Astoria, Queens
While I was searching for answers to my questions regarding the general
health conditions in Astoria, I decided to go to the Mount Sinai Hospital in
Astoria. Over there, after an endless search for the right person who would
answer my questions correctly, I came across Ms. Kathy Rubenstein, who gave
the most appropriate answers to my questions.
Ms. Kathy Rubenstein is the Senior Director of Marketing and Communications
for The Mount Sinai Hospital of Queens, located on 25-10 30th Avenue,
Astoria, NY.
Interview-
1) Are there any health issues in Astoria that are particularly
significant?
Working in a hospital that handles all types of health problems, I haven't
seen a particular disease or disorder be significantly prevalant. There are
many different types of health problems that exist in this community but
there are no individual issues that we can point out.
2) Even though there isn't an individual issue in the community, what is
the prevalance of AIDS or other sexually transmitted diseases?
In this community, as it is probably in the rest of the world, sexually
transmitted diseases are greatly significant. Not only AIDS, but other
diseases such as Chlamydia and Syphilis are exist in great numbers. One
positive trend that has developed in recent times is that these diseases
aren't spreading around as much as they used to in the past due to the great
increase in awareness about such issues as well as the increased
responsibility that the public has been exhibiting.
3) How are the living conditions of the people that come to your
hospital?
Well, I believe that the people who come to this hospital live in Astoria
for the most part. And as far as living conditions are concerned, we can
determine how the living conditions in this neighborhood are simply by how
the real estate is doing. As we know, the real estate in Astoria is pretty
high. I believe this high real estate rate is because of the great living
conditions that exist in this neighborhood. Of course, like all other
neighborhoods, there are some parts of Astoria that are below average but in
totality, the living conditions in Astoria are great.
4) In general, is there any particular ethnic group that is domninant in
coming to this hospital?
Well, in the past, one group that was more significant in coming to this
hospital were the Greeks. This was only natural because even today, the
Greeks are the dominant ethnic group in Astoria and as I mentioned before,
most of the people who visit this hospital live in Astoria. One trend that I
have been observing in recent times however is that Astoria slowly is
becoming more diverse, not that it wasn't diverse to begin with. Nowadays,
however, increasing numbers of Asians are coming into this neighborhood,
mostly consisting of Oriental Asians as well as South Asians. Thus, in
recent times, the ethnic demographics of this hospital have changed
significantly due to the increasing influence of such groups, and I believe
that the demographics will constantly be changing because Astoria is an
extremely diverse community and its diversity only increases as time goes
on.
