RESPECT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over 1,000 Doctors Are Standing Together and Have Sent the Respect Petition to HHC and the Affiliates!

And the number grows every day. Let’s keep the pressure on. Affiliate doctors at HHC have had enough and want respect, a greater voice in quality patient care and a new contract.

We are continuing with our Respect campaign and in addition to the e-mail petition we have been:

• Meeting with elected leaders
• Meeting with community groups
• Elected leaders and community groups have stated they support our campaign and are calling and sending letters to HHC and the Deputy Mayor, as well as attending our rally
• Running ads on media, such as the New York Times digital Metro NY, in subway cars and stations, and in journals and papers.

How can YOU help?

• Are you a community member, patient or work at Woodhull Hospital or any HHC or NYU facility or hospital and have a story to tell?
• See list of HHC facilities, hospitals and affiliates
• Let us know if you have experienced any of the following:
  •          long wait times to see a doctor
  •          not enough time with your doctor
  •          poor patient care experience
  •          poor patient satisfaction
  •          short staffing of doctors or other health care workers
  •          you would not recommend Woodhull Hospital, HHC or NYU as a place to get patient care or work in

Doctors Council SEIU (the union for doctors at HHC) is advocating to make HHC and NYU a better place to receive patient care and to work in. Together we can make HHC and NYU a good place for quality care and to work in – what our patients and communities deserve! Please share your experiences by emailing us info@doctorscouncil.com (all information will be kept confidential as only overall information may be shared)

 

Listen to our Rally Radio Ad:

    

What are WE the Doctors Advocating for?    RESPECT

• Greater Voice for Doctors in Quality Care
• New Contract After Years of Neglect
• Safe Staffing
• Timely Access to care in our Communities

We, the frontline doctors of HHC, work hard day and night throughout the HHC system, providing quality, affordable care for all New Yorkers. We deserve to be treated with RESPECT and have a new contract now.  For too long our voices have not been heard and our efforts in bargaining over the last years have been met with disinterest and a lack of respect.  Our issues are not being addressed and this is adversely impacting our ability to best serve the patients and communities we care for.

 

We want RESPECT and a contract that will:

RESET our relationship with HHC and the affiliates REFOCUS on patient care REINSPIRE our practice by involving doctors in decisions Doctors deserve a contract NOW that enables us to recruit and retain doctors and gives us a greater voice in quality care decisions. HHC and the affiliates such as NYU need to RESPECT the doctors and settle our contract now.

 

RESPECT for Doctors is RESPECT for Patients:
What Doctors Are Saying

“As a doctor, I want the best patient care and experience for my patients.  For too long now, I have seen too much short staffing of doctors and how this leads to longer wait times to see a doctor and jeopardizes patient care.  We need to be able to recruit new doctors and retain the ones we have.  Our patients and the communities served by our HHC hospitals deserve no less.” Dr. Toni Wright Harlem Hospital  

 

 

 

“Doctors want a greater voice in quality patient care.  We take care of all New Yorkers and anyone who walks through our doors- no matter who you are.  We have reached out to HHC so that doctors can work together with HHC to improve patient care.  HHC responds with delay and silence.  Doctors deserve better and our patients deserve better.” Dr. Aycan Turkmen Coney Island Hospital  

 

 

 

“I was involved in bargaining a few years ago where I saw HHC and NYU try to dictate to doctors and not have any collaboration in reaching a new contract or on quality patient care issues.  I thought it could not get worse.  It has, as now HHC and NYU have no responses and apparently no desire to involve doctors meaningfully in quality patient care.  And we have gone years without a new contract.  HHC and NYU treats its doctors with a lack of respect.  Respect for doctors is respect for patients and that is what I and my colleagues are rallying and fighting for.” Dr. Laurence Rezkalla Woodhull Hospital  

 

 

“We all work at HHC hospitals and facilities and share the same fight no matter who our employer is.  Many doctors who work at HHC are employed by a subcontractor called an affiliate- Mount Sinai, NYU or PAGNY (Physician Affiliate Group of NY).  No matter who we work for, the common controlling entity is HHC.  Now doctors are standing together united in one voice for our issues and those of our patients.  We deserve respect, we deserve better and so do our patients.”
Dr. Debasis Kanjilal                                                                   Dr. David Reich Elmhurst Hospital                                                                      Queens Hospital                                                                                                                                            

Doctors from all different affiliates across HHC at a recent meeting to stand together and advocate with one strong united voice for Respect, a greater voice in quality patient care and a new contract now.

 

Elected Leaders Concerned and Starting to Add Their Voices

 From left to right: Dr. Herman Anderson (PAGNY/Harlem Hospital), Dr. Joan Culpepper-Morgan (PAGNY/Harlem Hospital), Dr. Aubrey Clarke (PAGNY/Harlem Hospital), Council Member Inez Dickens, Dr. Frank Proscia (President), Dr. Joseph Mazza (NYU/Henry J. Carter), Dr. Mohammad Rahman (NYU/Henry J. Carter) and Dr. Matthews Hurley (1st Vice President)  

Doctors from various HHC hospitals and affiliates have begun meeting with elected leaders, such as Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Council Member James Vacca and Council Member Inez Dickens. We are making a thoughtful and passionate presentation about the need for a fair contract and for front line doctor engagement with HHC and the affiliates.  Elected leaders were impressed by the doctors’ commitment to their patients and communities and their dedication to working in safety net facilities in challenging conditions. A win for the doctors is a win for the people served by HHC. The doctors at the meeting all work at HHC facilities.  All the affiliate doctors, Mount Sinai, NYU and PAGNY, are standing together and speaking with one voice for Respect, a greater voice in quality patient care and a new contract now. 

  

 

Council Member James Vacca with Dr. Frank Proscia, President of Doctors Council SEIU, at a rally at Jacobi Medical Center to reopen labor and delivery services in North Central Bronx Hospital    

 

 

Doctors are also presenting our White Paper (see below) and explaining that we have been waiting years for a new contract.  We are not treated with respect form HHC or the affiliates and we, our patients and the communities we serve deserve better. Elected leaders are concerned and are stating we can count on their support for a new contract.  They are hearing what doctors are dealing with on a daily basis, including the difficulty in recruiting new doctors and retaining those we have. Our political meetings will continue in the weeks ahead and are part of our overall Respect campaign for a voice in quality care and a new contract.

Elected Leaders Standing With Doctors

Doctors from various HHC hospitals and affiliates continue to meet with elected leaders as part of our Respect campaign. A growing number of elected leaders are supporting our campaign and are calling and sending letters to Dr. Raju, President and CEO of HHC, and the Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, as well as attending our rally.

From left to right: Dr. Jasmine Dave (Mount Sinai/ Elmhurst); Dr. Aycan Turkmen (PAGNY/Coney Island); Public Advocate Letitia James; Dr. Frank Proscia, President; Dr. Marie-Alex Michel-Vincent (NYU/Woodhull); Dr. Varinder Chawla (NYU/Henry J. Carter); Dr. Kirtikumar Patel (NYU/Henry J. Carter); and Dr. Matthews Hurley, 1st Vice President .

 

  

From left to right: Dr. Matthews Hurley, 1st Vice President; Dr. Frank Proscia, President; Queens Borough President Melinda Katz; Dr. Jasmine Dave (Mount Sinai/ Elmhurst); Dr. Juan Mestre (Mount Sinai/ Elmhurst) and Dr. Yusufal Mamoon (Mount Sinai/Queens).  

 

 

 

 

 

From left to right: Dr. Frank Proscia, President; Council Member Rory Lancman; Dr. Vivian Ripin (Mount Sinai/Queens) and Dr. David Reich (Mount Sinai/Queens).                                                 

            

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

From left to right: Dr. Matthews Hurley, 1st Vice President; Dr. Deborah Williams (NYU/Woodhull); New York State Senator Martin Dilan; Dr. Shinawe Jimenez(NYU/Woodhull); Dr. Frank Proscia, President; and Dr. Robert Mishkin (NYU/Woodhull).

 

 

 

 

From left to right: Dr. Gul Nimet Bahtiyar (NYU/Woodhull); Dr. Clementina Okunpolor (NYU/Woodhull); New York State Assemblymember Annette Robinson; Dr. Frank Proscia, President; and Dr. Matthews Hurley, 1st Vice President.

 

 

 

From left to right: Dr. Matthews Hurley, 1st Vice President; Dr. Frank Proscia, President; Council Member Maria del Carmen Arroyo; and Dr. Jigar Patel (PAGNY/Lincoln).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From left to right: Dr. Sandra Angus (PAGNY/NCB); Council Member Andrew Cohen; Dr. Brigitte Alexander (PAGNY/NCB).

 

From left to right: Dr. Deborah Williams (NYU/Woodhull); Councilmember Robert Cornegy; Dr. Shinawe Jimenez (NYU/Woodhull); Frank Proscia, President; and Dr. Matthews Hurley, 1st Vice President

 

 

Dr. Raju and HHC (and affiliates) non-response
on affiliate bargaining

Please read the letter from Dr. Raju, President of HHC, for a non-response to Council Member Dickens on affiliate bargaining.

We met with PAGNY Wednesday night (October 22nd) and they had nothing new to say.  They are still waiting for direction from HHC.

We met with representatives from Mount Sinai on October 8th and they had nothing new to say.  They are still waiting for direction from HHC.

And, last we heard from NYU- they had nothing new to say.  They are still waiting for direction from HHC.

Yet, Dr. Raju states that “HHC does not control or attend these bargaining sessions.”  Anyone who works in an HHC hospital or facility, or anyone who has attended any bargaining meeting over the last number of years knows that HHC does control the bargaining sessions.  The affiliates come in and say (or do not say as the case may be) what HHC dictates to them.

If, as Dr. Raju states, “Doctors…. are a critical component to the success of HHC” and he appreciates our hard work and dedication, then show doctors respect, enable doctors to have a greater voice in quality care (as we called for in our (White Paper) and let’s have a new contract now!

We have been meeting with numerous elected leaders, including the Public Advocate, Borough Presidents, City Council Members, and New York State Assembly Members and Senators.  We will hold Dr. Raju and HHC accountable.

Dr. Raju states he has “no doubt that all parties will bargain in good faith” and that it is his “sincere hope and expectation that there will be successful resolutions to all of these negotiations in the near future.”  If this is true, then stop being part of the problem and be part of the solution.  Stop delaying and denying.

We will not let Dr. Raju mislead the elected leaders.  We will advocate and demand for doctors to have respect, a voice and a contract.   That is why we are having a rally on Wednesday, October 29th at 12 noon at Woodhull Hospital.

Putting Patients First Through Doctor, Patient and Community Engagement

A Call to Action from Doctors Council SEIU to the Mayor and the
Leadership of HHC

Read our White Paper

Hear and watch our Doctors talk about our White Paper

Doctors from across all of HHC have come together to create and publish a critical and important position paper.

In our White Paper, the members of Doctors Council SEIU demand that we put patients first through doctor, patient and community engagement.

Our White Paper is a call to action to the Mayor and Leadership of HHC to:

(1)    More meaningfully and substantively involve the front line doctors who take care of our patients to have a real voice in quality patient care, and

(2)    Have more communication, education and training addressing all the changes in health care and how they impact our ability to practice and deliver quality care to our patients and the communities we serve.

  

In May, Doctors Council Members From Across HHC Presented our White Paper to the Deputy Mayor and HHC President

HHC doctors from every hospital and facility met with New York City Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli (pictured above front row, 6th from left) and HHC President, Dr. Ramanathan Raju (left of Deputy Mayor) at City Hall to discuss challenges and opportunities of working together under a new administration, and to empower frontline clinicians to have a real and meaningful voice in the work we do everyday. Doctors presented our White Paper, which contains the culmination of thought and input from over 100 HHC Doctors Council members who participated in a process over several months to outline a new vision for frontline doctors and management of HHC.

Mayor Bill de Blasio takes time out of his schedule to pose with Doctors Council delegation.

 

To date, 5 months from when we presented our White Paper to Dr. Raju and HHC, there has been NO follow up from HHC despite repeated requests to implement the vision and commitment of our White Paper.  Our patients deserve better and doctors deserve better.  It is a matter of Respect for Doctors and for Patients.

 

Caring For ALL New Yorkers

“As a Primary Care Physician there is no relationship more important to me that the doctor-patient relationship.  I want the time to listen to and treat the whole patient.  As a doctor, I want my patients to stay healthy between visits and avoid having more sickness or being admitted to a hospital.  I want them to be with their families, at work and leading healthy, fulfilling lives.” – Dr. Francis Quee, New York City