New Study by Hunter Professors Shows Healthcare Workers’ Health Is at Risk

A new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine co-led by Steffie Woolhandler and David Himmelstein, both distinguished professors at Hunter College’s School of Urban Public Health, indicates that America’s healthcare workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis are facing dire healthcare challenges of their own. Due to age or underlying medical conditions, many are at risk for serious or even deadly illness should they contract the virus—a distinct possibility, due to job requirements—and many of them are low-income and uninsured, further exacerbating their risk. Professors Woolhandler and Himmelstein call for essential workers to be afforded the benefits that would allow them the protections and medical care they deserve.