City Council Speaker Quinn praises health center system

The health care delivery system provided to Hotel Trades Council members and their families is becoming a model for others. As an example, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn praised the Health Center system in her State of the City address last month, adding that the Freelancers Union, which represents self-employed workers, would build a similar system with the support of government funding.

Quinn added an exclamation point to those remarks this week, when she toured the Harlem Health Center with Peter Ward and New York City Council Members Maria del Carmen Arroyo and Diana Reyna. The tour was led by Dr. Robert Greenspan, the CEO of the Union's Benefit Funds.

The event on Monday, March 5 was hardly the first time Greenspan has led people on a tour of the Health Center system. The health care delivery system provided to members and their families has been studied by many other groups that are trying to solve the crisis of ever-escalating costs. Interest in the system has been heightened in recent weeks with media coverage of the contract agreement between the Union and the Hotel Association.

"By working closely with management, we have been able to provide broad services to 80,000 workers, dependents and retirees, all for about one-third of the cost of the open market," Peter Ward told NPR radio this week in a national broadcast. "They are not-for-profits," Ward added. "There are no corporate jets. There is no corporate advertising. And a lot of credit really belongs to management."

One of those joining the tour was Angel Aybar, an employee of the Time Hotel and a member of the Local 6 Delegate Assembly. He told Speaker Quinn and the assembled media that the health care he receives through his membership in our Union saved his wife's life and made it possible to have a family.

"The first visit here to this health center, they sent her for a CAT scan and she had a minor brain tumor. They were able to shrink it down and now I have my son," Aybar said, smiling at his son, Jayden, who was asleep in a stroller.

Praise for the health care system enjoyed by Hotel Trades Council members and their families was also provided by Serge Jeudy, a Grand Hyatt employee who is a member of the Local 6 Executive Board. Jeudy said the health care system is a benefit and service in which all members can take pride.

As the tour of the Harlem Health Center began, the first thing Speaker Quinn noticed was the cleanliness of the facility. "This place is immaculate," she said.

"That's our first rule," Peter Ward responded. "Our health and dental centers have to be as clean as my mother's kitchen." Everyone smiled.

Quinn, Arroyo and Reyna saw examination rooms, specialties areas, the pharmacy and, when noting the comfort and span of the dental area, were informed by Dr. Greenspan that the dental center in Harlem is the largest anywhere in New York City.

Freelancers Union Executive Director Sara Horowitz was equally impressed. She appreciated the fact that the Union actually encourages members and their families to use the facilities. She also appreciated that everyone was encouraged to have a primary care physician. She told the media that this health care system would serve as a model for her union, which is building a health center in Brooklyn.

Speaker Quinn agreed, saluting the system as one-stop shopping providing a huge range of services.

"This is a complete medical home, a complete medical community for members," she told the media, saying the Union and the Hotel Association do it in a way that could well serve as an example for others.

"They do this at a better cost than really any other entity I have ever come across," Quinn added. "I wanted to find a way that we could take that to other New Yorkers and really replicate their success."

All three members of the City Council who toured the Harlem Health Center this week said they were happy to see the strong emphasis the system places on quality health care in an environment that is comprehensive, comfortable and inviting. "This is really impressive and we want to explore creating similar models for city employees and other groups," Quinn concluded.