Doctors Council SEIU to Form an Advisory Committee of Doctors on Ebola Union Calls for More Preparedness and Collaboration with Hospital Management in New York City and Chicago

For Immediate Release
(New York, NY; Chicago, Illinois – October 21, 2014)

Front-line doctors in New York City’s and Chicago’s public hospital system stand prepared to provide patient care should any cases of Ebola surface in New York City or Chicago. Doctors Council SEIU represents the doctors who work in the Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), New York City’s public hospital system and the largest public hospital system in the nation, and the Cook County Health and Hospitals System (CCHHS) in Illinois, the third largest public hospital system.

The risk of an outbreak of Ebola remains very low according to healthcare experts. But every facility across the public hospital systems must be thoroughly prepared to handle a walk-in case.

“Front-line clinicians and members of the care delivery team spend their days with patients and their families from the communities we serve. Yet it is the front-line caregivers who are sometimes last in line in terms of receiving information or providing input into hospital protocols. This must change,” said Dr. Frank Proscia, President, Doctors Council SEIU.

Doctors Council SEIU announces the formation of an Advisory Committee of doctors from the public hospital systems in New York City and Chicago on Ebola. The purpose of the Committee will be to share information, concerns and best practices among our members so we can best support our patients, communities and each other. Through this Committee, we will assess current policies and procedures; evaluate further education, information, training and equipment our members may need; and share our input with our employers. This Advisory Committee will share its input, on a regular basis, with hospital administrators and management, and we call on HHC and CCHHS to keep an open channel of communication with our members.

Collaborative engagement with management is a key message in the Doctors Council White Paper that we presented to HHC in May 2014, “Putting Patients First Through Doctor, Patient and Community Engagement.” The White Paper proposes developing frameworks so doctors can have a more meaningful voice in decision-making and quality improvements, a recommendation that could prove valuable in responding to Ebola or other critical patient care issues.

 

About Doctors Council SEIU

Doctors Council SEIU, a professional organization for doctors, is the nation’s oldest and largest union of attending physicians and dentists in the United States, with members in New York City, and in states across the country. Formed in 1973, Doctors Council SEIU is a union for doctors and a voice for patients, and represents attending physicians and dentists at Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) facilities and hospitals, including doctors employed by the affiliates New York University School of Medicine, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Physician Affiliate Group of New York (PAGNY). HHC is the largest public hospital system in the nation. Doctors Council SEIU also represents doctors in the New York City Mayoral agencies including the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) as well as doctors working at Rikers Island, the largest correctional facility in the nation. Affiliated with SEIU, Doctors Council SEIU is a national union representing doctors employed in the public and private sectors.