Nassau County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D – Glen Cove) met with LIU Nursing College students and their professor Dr. Holly Shaw, PhD, RN at the Glen Cove Senior Center on Wednesday, February 15. The students visit the Center every Wednesday to interact with the senior citizen members.
Legislator DeRiggi-Whitton spoke with the students about how health-related and other policies are developed and enforced at the County level, and the various committees she serves on, including being a Ranking member of the Health and Social Services committee. Just a few examples of health-focused initiatives by Nassau County that the legislator brought up were raising the minimum age to buy cigarettes from 18 to 21, imposing stricter regulations regarding plastics in the environment, banning Styrofoam and fracking wastewater from being used by municipalities to melt snow, policies that protect and programs that benefit senior citizens, and even regulations for using umbrellas in the sun to protect against skin cancer.
DeRiggi-Whitton also discussed the concerning issue with hunger on Long Island and how proud she was that the County was able to give Long Island Cares $100,000 to help provide boxes of food to needy families. Some waited in line for over two hours for the donations.
She also noted efforts to protect our groundwater, which is Long Island’s sole source of drinking water. Stricter monitoring of sewage treatment plant operations and fertilizer usage and content, and overwatering that could lead to saltwater intrusion, making our aquifers unusable for decades, even centuries were a few items discussed.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for all professionals in the medical field not only because they provide the best treatment, but they also give from their hearts so selflessly to provide support for their patients that goes well above and beyond just doing their jobs,” Legislator DeRiggi-Whitton said. “These and all other nurses and nursing students show a level of devotion that is rare and so appreciated. God bless all of our caregivers, during the COVID-19 crisis and otherwise.” The legislator also commended the students for being so much more aware and informed about the need to protect our environment than had been the case with previous generations.