Brannon Braga and Jeri Taylor, who co-wrote "The 37s," do describe the episode as a "turning point" for
Star Trek: Voyager. Having said that, the easy shuffling of three episodes produced prior to "The 37s" to the third, fourth, and sixth airdates of the second season suggests that the series was already so episodic at that point that so-called "turning points" were essentially irrelevant to following episodes.
In general, I think that's pretty illustrative of the problem with the writing of
Star Trek: Voyager, although I'd also say that beginning in the fifth season, more often than not the series commits a far worse sin: it's just plain dull.