Long Island City has grown faster than its medical infrastructure. We are two subway stops north, in Astoria, with appointments that do not require taking a half day off work.
Long Island City has added tens of thousands of residents over the past decade, and specialty care has not kept pace. For neurology in particular, most LIC residents are still referred into Manhattan — which for a follow-up visit means an hour of travel for a twenty-minute appointment.
We are in Astoria, two stops north on the N and W from Queensboro Plaza, and a straightforward trip from Hunters Point, Court Square, Dutch Kills and Astoria's southern edge. First visits run forty-five minutes to an hour, and most follow-ups can be done by secure telehealth if getting away from work is the obstacle.
The conditions we see most often from LIC skew younger than the borough average: migraine, post-concussive symptoms, carpal tunnel and other repetitive strain nerve problems, and the sleep and cognitive complaints that come with long hours at a desk.
The full range of adult neurology — headache and migraine, epilepsy and seizures, memory loss and dementia, stroke and TIA, Parkinson's disease and tremor, multiple sclerosis, peripheral neuropathy, and dizziness and balance disorders.
“Patients should not have to cross a bridge for a follow-up appointment that takes twenty minutes.”