When the Zadroga Act was signed into law in January 2011, it provided hope to the thousands of first responders who became ill after spending time in the rubble of the World Trade Center after 9/11. Now, more than a year later, a clinic aimed specifically at treating firemen and other emergency personnel opened in Brooklyn, the New York Daily News reports.
The clinic is operated under the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) and is housed at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Flatbush. It make sense for Brooklyn to have a center, given that it's New York City's largest borough, but it was one of the last to receive the vital clinic. However, health advocates are still pleased with the outcome.
"This is just a great addition for us," Dr. Benjamin Luft, medical director of the WTCHP, told the newspaper. "We’re dealing with a true public health issue of our community and city, and fundamentally that is what our program has always been about. We can provide a critical service to really help a population that needs it."
Medical centers like the one in Brooklyn should go a long way in helping first responders. According to The Star-Ledger, as many as 9,500 Ground Zero workers suffered from lung dysfunction or other ailments.