The Lown Institute has recognized Jamaica Hospital and Flushing Hospital Medical Centers for excellence in health equity, receiving an “A” grade on the 2024-25 Lown Institute Hospitals Index for Social Responsibility.
Jamaica Hospital and Flushing Hospital Medical Centers achieved this honor through strong performance across metrics of community benefit, pay equity, and inclusivity out of more than 3,500 hospitals nationwide.
“Great care is only great if everyone can access it,” said Vikas Saini, MD, president of the Lown Institute. “We need hospitals to be strong community partners—and Jamaica and Flushing Hospitals are at the top of our list showing the way.”
The Lown Hospitals Index for Social Responsibility is the only ranking to combine health equity metrics and value of care alongside patient outcomes, for more than 2,700 acute care and 800 critical access hospitals nationwide—offering a holistic view of hospitals as total community partners. In the fifth annual rankings, the 2024-25 Lown Index evaluates hospitals on over 50 measures including novel metrics such as community benefit, racial inclusivity, and avoidance of overuse. Data sources include Medicare fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage claims, CMS patient safety data and hospital cost reports, and IRS 990 forms. The full can be found on the Lown Index website.
The Lown Institute is an independent think tank advocating bold ideas for a just and caring system for health. Learn more at www.LownHospitalsIndex.org.
The MediSys Health Network of Jamaica Hospital and Flushing Hospital Medical Centers recently held its Third Annual Research Conference and Poster Competition. Sponsored by the Department of Research Education and Innovation and the Department of Clinical Research, the event allows the entire MediSys hospital community to present any scholarly activity they had done over the past academic year of 2023-2024.
The MediSys Health Network has been named as one of the top 10 hospital systems in the United States for fair share spending by the Lown Institute, a nonprofit organization that promotes equity and transparency throughout the American healthcare system. MediSys was one of many hospital systems across the country included in the Lown Institute’s 2024-25 fair share analysis, which compared hospitals’ tax exemptions to their community spending.
Flushing Hospital Medical Center has been recognized by the National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program as a Gold-level Safe Sleep Hospital for their commitment to best practices and education on infant sleep safety. It is currently the only New York City hospital outside of the city’s public hospital system (NYC Health + Hospitals) that has achieved this certification level. Previously, Flushing Hospital held Bronze-level certification since 2016.
On November 23, 2023, 152 staff members at Flushing Hospital Medical Center attended the first Schwartz Rounds event held since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The panel discussion included attending physicians, residents, nurses, and social workers, all of whom shared challenges they experienced with building trust and meeting family expectations in cases with unexpected outcomes.
Patient satisfaction is always a priority across the MediSys Health Network. One new initiative designed to improve our patients’ experience is the Tea Time program, where hospital volunteers offer friendly interaction along with hot beverages and healthy snacks.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a significant increase in the number of verbal and physical acts of violence against members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. According to a recent NYPD report, there were 131 hate crimes targeting Asians in New York in 2021 as compared to only 28 in 2020 and only one in 2019.
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Flushing Hospital Medical Center was a recent recipient of “The New York State Perinatal Collaborative (NYSPQC) Enteral Nutrition Improvement Project Improvement Award”
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common virus that can affect people of all ages. In fact, over half of all adults have been infected with CMV by the age of 40, but in most healthy adults, the immune system will prevent the virus from causing illness while some may experience mild symptoms such as fever or sore throat.