New York City quickly emerged as the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis in early 2020 after the disease—initially undetected—tore through its diverse and densely populated boroughs. Minority neighborhoods were disproportionately affected, and amidst its high casualty rates, there was an emerging population of COVID-19 patients who were experiencing chronic symptoms long after they recovered from the virus. Given these urgent circumstances, NYC Health +Hospitals, along with Gotham Health, moved to create permanent clinics for “long hauler” patients in the city’s hardest-hit communities.

The health systems were forward-thinking despite an extremely expedited schedule, blending urgent short-term health needs with long-term primary-care goals for these under-served communities. The ribbon-cutting at the Bronx clinic was held in December 2020, seven months after work began. The Queens clinic opened two months later, and Brooklyn followed soon thereafter, making all three operational in less than a year. They now serve as satellites of H+H’s hospital network with a spectrum of COVID-19 services from testing and treatment to the management of long-term symptoms.

Graphics for this project, which Perkins Eastman guided across all three clinics, consisted of signage and wayfinding at different scales. Surface-applied identification and wayfinding information is scaled for vehicular and pedestrian visitors to intuitively navigate the site. Each clinic has branded orientation information and identification on the exterior. All exterior signage extends the familiar NYC H+H brand to the streetscape at each of the three locations. A series of scalable sign types were developed to seamlessly integrate at each location, while several catered signs were also introduced to meet unique conditions at each of the locations.