Patients To Cast Absentee Ballots Thanks To Hospital Staff

MANHASSET, NY – When 78-year-old Manhattan resident John Marino – better known as Uncle Johnny on radio station Z100’s Elvis Duran and the Morning Show – was admitted to North Shore University Hospital’s (NSUH) cardiothoracic unit, his odds of voting on Election Day appeared doubtful.

But thanks to an initiative driven by hospital volunteers, Marino and others like him will be able to cast an absentee ballot on Tuesday, Nov. 3. “Vote North” began at Lenox Hill Hospital in 2018 and has since spread to seven Northwell Health hospitals in time for Decision 2020, including: Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, Phelps Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, Plainview Hospital and Staten Island University Hospital (North and South campuses).

More than 70 staffers volunteered at NSUH – from doctors and nurses to support staff – to canvass the patient population on Sunday and Monday. They asked two fundamental questions: Are you registered to vote; if so, have you voted yet?

“We want to give our patients the opportunity to do something that they wouldn’t be able to without us,” said Juan Contreras, NSUH’s director of patient experience. “Because of their designation as being hospitalized they are allowed an absentee ballot. We have so many volunteers eager to make that happen.”

A hospitalized patient can cast an absentee ballot. The hospital volunteers at NSUH will coordinate with the Board of Elections in whatever county the patient lives (Bronx, Kings, Manhattan, Richmond, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties) to obtain an absentee ballot and then get it back to the polling location on Election Day. In all, 100 NSUH patients have asked to vote using this service.

In Marino’s case, a runner will get his application to Manhattan, return with a ballot and bring it back to the polling place on Election Day. Emma Catizone, a patient experience employee and “Vote North” volunteer, personally took Marino’s application to the Board of Elections on Tuesday.

“This is such an important duty and a fundamental right for all Americans,” Catizone said. “I’m excited that Northwell Health is making this service available to people who would not be able to have their voice heard otherwise. I’m proud to do my part.”

For his part, Marino expressed gratitude to all the Northwell volunteers who were working so diligently to give hospitalized patients the ability to vote.

“I’m very pleased that I will be able to vote,” Marino said. “I believe everyone should exercise their right to vote.”