While NYAM staff mainly worked from home during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent early spring 2020 lockdown, we still responded rapidly to continue our organizational mission of advancing health equity.

• We set up a digital information hub called What Can I Do? on our website. An informative newsletter aggregating pandemic news and resources was sent out for six months, and the hub itself includes numerous links to resources on housing, food access, mental health, and vaccines, among other topics.
• NYAM President Dr. Judith A. Salerno came out of clinical retirement in late March 2020 to work with the palliative care service at Bellevue Hospital for two months. She acted as a liaison between COVID patients and their families, giving medical updates and discussing treatment and prognosis.
• We partnered with Yale School of Nursing to work on understanding the spread of infection in long-term care facilities worldwide and to create safer environments for residents and staff. A two-day virtual summit on the topic was held in December 2020.
• We partnered with Metropolitan Hospital to conduct analyses of electronic health record data early in the pandemic. For discharged Metropolitan Hospital patients, we printed user-friendly guides to housing and mental health resources in English and Spanish.

• We opened our building to use as a local meal distribution hub with the youth organization SCAN-Harbor.
• Through our Age-friendly Neighborhoods Fund, we made immediate grants to groups serving older people in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
• Our Center for Healthy Aging gathered 20 New York City age-friendly organizations for monthly meetings. Healthy Aging staff developed a toolkit to help these organizations sustain, grow, and fund their plans and objectives.
• The Library quickly developed an online list of links to reliable, science-based COVID-19 websites and resources. Reference staff created a lively series of Virtual Visits to continue patron engagement and collection access.

The NYAM in Action report gives more details about our efforts during the COVID pandemic. As the situation changes, we remain ready to serve and support with trustworthy information, relevant programming, and forward-thinking partnerships.