Partnership Matters
Brought to you by the Labor Management Project, Partnership Matters gathers news about best practices, training opportunities, reports and more to help you keep up with the latest trends in health care delivery and labor-management partnerships.
Strengthening Workers and Organizations through Workplace and Community Health
On August 31, Chris Pernell, MD, MPH—or Dr. Chris, as she’s known professionally and in her community—joined the Labor Management Project as senior manager of the new 1199SEIU/League Workplace and Community Health Program. Less than two weeks into the new job, she sat down with us to talk about her goals for the program, which she sees as an important way to achieve health equity, her conviction that good health is “a means and a measure of personal success,” and more.
Meet Our New Staff
As our work expands and adapts to meet new challenges, our staff is growing too. The six newest members of our staff bring years of valuable skills and experience to the job, along with a shared passion for the work we all do. Please join us in welcoming Emily Drucker, Mavis Flowers, Scott Hubbard, Chantel Peters, Chris Pernell, Tamara Robinson and Wanda L. Johnson.
Nursing Home Workers Learn Strategies for Handling Aggression
In his session on how to respond to if a gunman begins to shoot people at your workplace, J. David Weidner, Director of Emergency Preparedness for the Health Care Association of New Jersey, emphasized the importance of trusting your instincts. “Run – Hide – Fight” was Weidner’s most important message, when staff from six New York City nursing homes gathered last month for a Labor Management Project conference titled Preparing for the Many Faces of Aggression.
Resources
Join Cureatr on October 27 for a webinar
Labor Management Project Launches Diabetes Prevention Program
The Labor Management Project (LMP) recently launched a Diabetes Prevention Program at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital. 1199SEIU members and other staff who enroll in this evidence-based program will receive support from a trained lifestyle coach. Participants will take a 16-week class, followed by monthly support sessions over the course of one year.
Roundtable to Explore New Ways of Promoting Good Health
Our traditional healthcare model is good at treating illness and disability, but it is estimated that only 20% of health is determined by clinical healthcare. About half is determined by social, economic, and environmental factors such as education, employment, family/social support, housing, and food availability. If you want to learn more about how health systems, public agencies, employers, unions and community organizations are working to address these underlying issues and their impact on health, you are invited to a roundtable the Labor Management Project is co-hosting next month.
Succeeding Together: LMP Partners Improve HCAHPS Scores
An increase in patient satisfaction scores on the HCAHPS survey. Sharp decreases in the need for patients to ring call bells for help. Higher staff satisfaction scores and better teamwork. These are just some of the improvements achieved through union and management collaboration at New York-area hospitals and nursing homes with the help of the Labor Management Project (LMP).
Debunking Questionable Research About Union Campaigns
This month we celebrated Labor Day, a reminder that the labor movement has accomplished many things that have benefited all Americans, including shorter workweeks, the end of child labor, fair(er) wages, widespread employer-based health coverage, and the Family and Medical Leave Act. Yet there is a considerable and continual campaign against organized labor in this country. One of the tools of this campaign is questionable research that is offered as “proof” that unions are doing more harm than good.
Resources
Find free audio and video resources …
How DSRIP Is Helping Us Do the Right Thing
“[W]e really have a ‘sick care’ system, not a ‘health care’ system. It is not designed to help people manage chronic disease, prevent illness or support comprehensive well-being,” says 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East President George Gresham in the August 4 New York Observer.