Healthcare is facing massive changes nationwide and throughout New York State. As our clients grapple with the challenges of health care reform, the Labor Management Project (LMP) is helping union and management navigate the changes together, leveraging research, best practices, leadership development and just-in-time support while tailoring our services to adapt to the shifting landscape with flexible, innovative approaches.
Here are a few highlights of what we accomplished together in 2015:
- The 1199SEIU/League Workplace and Community Health Program was launched last summer. The program spurs a culture of health and well-being by helping health care workers change their behaviors and lifestyles and promoting work environments that prioritize worker health.
- Last June, over 700 people representing both union and management from over 70 organizations gathered for the Health Care Reform 2.0: Making the Shift to a Culture of Health Conference at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge. Workshops covered a variety of healthcare trends, including New York’s Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) Program, population health, and reducing hospital readmissions.
- Montefiore Medical Center and 1199SEIU partnered at Montefiore’s Moses and Wakefield campuses to launch a Workplace Mediation Program to help staff constructively address and resolve conflict. The LMP is supporting Workplace Mediation skills development and program design as well as providing coaching to the mediators. To date, 16 mediators have been trained, including 11 from labor and 5 from management.
- Our Patient Centered Care Program continues to expand into more health facilities, ensuring that healthcare workers understand the “why” behind changes in the healthcare delivery system and are empowered to improve patient and staff satisfaction.
- LMP staff have worked with long-term care facilities including ArchCare, Isabella Geriatric Center, CenterLight and Sarah Neuman (Jewish Lifecare) to help demonstrate the organizations’ value and define the role of long-term care in this rapidly changing healthcare environment.
- The LMP created a 4-hour training module on effective communication, engagement in difficult conversations and changes in healthcare. It was used to train over 300 staff members at Maimonides Hospital.
- The LMP expanded our outreach online by launching our website, Twitter account, and Facebook page last year. We also launched a free monthly e-bulletin, Partnership Matters, which informs stakeholders of emerging trends, best practices, innovations, and research impacting the healthcare industry and its workforce.
- The Registered Nurse Labor Management Initiative (RNLMI) is participating in monthly labor-management committee meetings that began last year at 16 hospitals. These committees examine and create processes to improve recruitment and retention, nurse satisfaction, and union-management relationships. RNLMI also helped facilitate interest-based bargaining to address nurse staffing. The RNLMI hit a high peak of posts published and forwarded during this year’s Nurse of Distinction awards ceremony, with over 2,000 people reached and 3,000 people engaged through its Facebook page.