'illin - The Weekend Health Buzz

Queens Hospital to Help the Neediest

Helping the neediest this holiday season isn't just limited to canned food drives and dropping some change in those red Salvation Army kettles. AM New York reports that at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, almost 1,500 uninsured patients have been given low-cost birth control and counseling to prevent unwanted pregnancies. The service is in response to the high rate of unintended pregnancies over the past year: 49% of pregnancies amongst adolescents as well as those with higher educations are unwanted, with 42% of those ending in abortion.

"Patients 10 to 64 are eligible for the program and must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. They receive counseling about abstinence, oral contraceptives, condoms, intra uterine devices, sterilizations and other forms of birth control. Testing for HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases and the vaccine for the Human Papilloma Virus are also offered, and women can get routine gynecological screening. Medication and contraceptives are available on site. A team of doctors, physician assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners and social workers provide care."

For more information on birth control, to obtain emergency contraception, or other family counseling, check out Planned Parenthood of New York City.

Several City Hospitals to Flatline

As if emergency room waits weren't long enough, Beth Israel Medical Center is expected to absorb displaced patients from the impending closure of Cabrini Medical Center. Cabrini is a smaller hospital with a homier feel, having been owned by an order of Catholic nuns over the past 14 years, but is slated for closure by mid 2008 along with 15 other hospitals and nursing homes. This translates into the loss of about 7% of all statewide hospital beds and the loss of 6,400 jobs. Although the motivation for these shut-downs is financial, several of the centers being targeted have been chosen because of their proximity to larger hospitals that could take on the increased patient load.

Roast Beast(s)

Is the mere sight of all of that left-over turkey in your fridge driving you batty yet? Next year, want to try something a bit out of the ordinary? If so, you had better act quickly. The Post writes today about a stepped-up effort on the part of state regulators to pull unregulated exotic meats off of the shelves of local grocers. The melting pot which is our city includes denizens who enjoy the taste of armadillos, iguana meat, and cow lungs. Authorities have already confiscated 1.6 million pounds of the stuff this year, including frankly illegal items like gorilla and chimpanzee meat. While eating turtles, frogs, and certain lizards is actually legal if obtained from a regulated producer, officials have yet to find one.