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SPRING VALLEY – U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer stood outside Refuah Health Center on North Main Street to tout the $2 million he secured for a new women’s health center that will include infertility services.
That, the Senate Majority Leader said, will ensure that such treatment is “not just a privilege for the wealthy few.”
The money, part of the omnibus spending bill passed earlier this month, will be used by Refuah Health to construct a 10,000-square-foot Center of Excellence for Women’s Health south of its main facility on the Spring Valley-New Square border.
“Having a Majority Leader from New York is not garnisht,” Schumer said, using the Yiddish word for “nothing.”
He stood with officials from the federal, state and local level on Friday. With his hand outreached to U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones, who represents the 17th Congressional District that includes Rockland, Schumer added, “we had you covered.”
Help for infertility, an issue not often addressed for underserved populations, will be the first phase of the Center for Excellence For Women’s Health. The center will also include mental health services, imaging, and gynecological outpatient surgery.
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Officials said it is expected to open in summer or fall of 2023.
Refuah, a designated Federally Qualified Health Center, or FQHC, is the largest community health center in Rockland. It is located in an area that has a large Latino, Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish and Black community. Providers are available who speak Spanish, Yiddish, Hebrew, Hindi and other languages, its website states. The center also offers prenatal care and education in Haitian Creole.
About 80% of patients at Refuah are covered by Medicaid. Services are offered on a sliding scale.
Schumer said Refuah is already well-established as a top-notch provider of women’s health. The center aided in the delivery of more than 1,700 babies last year.
In 2020, amid the pandemic, Refuah opened a standalone birthing center for low-risk patients.
“Communities far too often face barriers to quality health care,” Jones told about two dozen Refuah health staff gathered to cheer the funding. Also in attendance were state Sen. Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, Rockland County Executive Ed Day and Ramapo Town Supervisor Michael Specht.
“We know that Refuah can deliver,” Jones said.
As the U.S. struggles with high maternal mortality rates, especially for Black and brown patients giving birth, Reichlin-Melnick said access to these kinds of services are important.
Refuah has long offered midwifery and doula services, which are now being studied as ways to address the disparity in pregnancy outcomes for women of color.
Catherine Cano, a certified nurse midwife at Refuah with more than 20 years’ experience, told her story.
“I too have struggled with infertility,” she told about two dozen co-workers and officials gathered for the grant announcement. “I know the complete devastation a woman feels. Thankfully, I was blessed (with) two boys.”
According to Refuah, 15% of Rockland County women will experience infertility issues in their lifetime, higher than the national average of 11%.
The goal, Refuah CEO Chanie Sternberg said, “is to ensure and protect health equity.”
Since 2020, New York has required insurance providers to cover IVF for people with a medical diagnosis of infertility. Access to infertility specialists, especially ones that will offer treatment regardless of ability to pay, is extremely limited. There are only about 130 fertility medical specialists across the state.
Women should be able access compassionate care “that makes them feel safe and welcome regardless of cultural background or socio-economic status,” Sternberg said.
Nancy Cutler writes about People & Policy. Click here for her latest stories. Follow her on Twitter at @nancyrockland.
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