Cheered on by co-workers, Ruben Silvestre was discharged from Flushing Hospital Medical Center Friday after a five-day battle with Coronavirus. He’s usually the one treating patients here as the hospitals’ Chief Nursing Officer, but instead found himself in need of care when he got sick on Monday.  

“What hopeful words do you have for others?”

“Keep it up, believe and have faith,” said Silvestre.

Silvestre is the 1,000^th coronavirus patient to be discharged from the Medisys Health Network, which includes Flushing Hospital Medical Center and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. The milestone felt especially meaningful to many who work with Silvestre, who has been with the network for 30 years.  

Administrators hope his speedy recovery gives others hope during this unprecedented time.    

“He’s been here every day since the first day of the crisis and working so hard and we were all very scared when he was admitted on Monday, but thank god he’s going home,” said Cathy Ferrari, an administrator at Flushing Hospital Medical Center.

Doctors say they’ve treated thousands of suspected or confirmed coronavirus patients within the Medisys Network. The system reached their apex in mid-April with more than 450 Coronavirus patients, and more than 150 of them in need of a ventilator.

But those numbers are declining. And other area hospitals have some encouraging reports too. Mt. Sinai Health System has discharged over 3,500 COVID patients, Montiefiore Heath system has cleared nearly 4,000, and Northwell has discharged more than 7,900 patients across the network.

“It’s been a strain on all the resources we have but we’ve tried to step up and do the best we can with the resources afforded to us,” said Dr. Manuel Lopez, Director of Cardiology at Flushing Hospital.

When asked what the first thing Silvestre will do when he gets home, he joked that he would take a shower. He’s scheduled to return to work in two weeks.