Health and Wealth

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. issued a report finding that from 1990 to 2005, disparities in hospitalization and mortality rates based on income have widened among New York City neighborhoods for heart disease, cancer and, particularly, diabetes. Thompson's report also noted that in the case of asthma, while hospitalizations have decreased due to better management of the disease, the prevalence of childhood asthma remains disturbingly high in many low income neighborhoods. The Comptroller's comprehensive analysis examined the rates of various health condition hospitalizations and deaths by neighborhood since 1990, indicating that health disparities arise from a complex interaction of economic, social and environmental factors. The Comptroller noted that anticipated hospital closures in New York City raise the prospect of more emergency room overcrowding and even fewer primary care facilities available to treat low income families.