Queens News - Local News

  Dr. Krystal L. Cleven, Pulmonologist  Queens Voice  May 12, 2025 QUEENS  - May means warmer weather and beautiful blooming flowers. And with this beauty comes a lot more pollen circulating in the air. Pollen is a common trigger of asthma, a chronic condition that causes airway inflammation in the lungs. Dust, pet hair, air pollution, cockroaches, mice, smoke, and weather changes can also trigger asthma episodes. Shortness of breath, coughing, chest tightness, and wheezing are well-known asthma symptoms.  Asthma in the Bronx In New York City, approximately 14% of adults and children have asthma but the rates in the Bronx are higher at 21%. Emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to asthma are also about twice as high in the Bronx compared to the rest of New York City. Although outdoor air pollution may be a factor for people living near busy roads and highways, most areas of the Bronx have...

Home Care Nurses:  The Beating Heart of Community Health  File Photo By Constance Washington, RN, Care Coordinator VNS Health Health Plans  Bronx Voice  May 5, 2025 NEW YORK - Many people might think that for nurses the workplace would be a hospital, clinic, or doctor’s office. But for the 180,000+ New York home care nurses who provide care to people at home, the “workplace” could be a basement apartment, a 30-floor high-rise, a house with a 2-car garage, a park bench, or just about anywhere someone actually lives. In my 19 years as a Home Care Nurse and Care Coordinator with VNS Health, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit home- and community-based health care organizations, I’ve pretty much seen it all. And one thing I know—home is where people want to be if they can when they’re recovering from surgery, illness or other health conditions. This special group of frontline heroes is the “beating heart” of community he...