Employees

As 2023 comes to a close, I want to take a moment to express my profound gratitude for your work this year. Collectively, you have changed tens of thousands of lives for the better - and once again given our  members the peace of mind that no matter what happens, we will always be there.

I also want to mark what feels like an inflection point for our organization. In the darkest days of the pandemic, I wrote that it would be a long time before the hotel industry and the Employee Benefit Funds would recover - but that our return was a matter of when, not if. Thanks to your extraordinary efforts, I believe that when is now.

The most immediate indicator is that members are coming back to our health centers and resuming regular care. Utilization has been steadily climbing and is up more than 30 percent relative to last year. Yet the true marker of our recovery isn’t the return to business as usual; it is the return to growth. This year, we launched many successful initiatives, including the Funds’ first-ever urgent care program in collaboration with CityMD. We partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering for the first time to offer world-class treatment at their facilities, and Care2U to deliver at-home acute care services. We improved access to vaccines by building dedicated immunization rooms and expanding the scope of our clinical pharmacies.

We improved access to care in both Medical and Dental with the addition of many new providers. New specialties and services were added, including full-time Nephrology and Orthopedics. More than 4000 Oral Surgery procedures have been completed at Midtown Dental since the addition of the new Suite in March. Vision screening  services have been extended to include children 6 months and older.

Our new Patient Portal App was launched to make scheduling, correspondence, and prescription refills easier for our members. We laid the groundwork to expand the hours of operation at our health centers in 2024. And of course, we continue on-going building improvement projects within our facilities.

As we’ve invested in patient services, we’ve also invested in ourselves. After successfully piloting a four-day workweek program in Brooklyn, we’re rolling it out across all four centers, beginning in January. The new hours will give members more appointment options, recruitment will become easier, and existing staff will get to enjoy additional time off each year.

By any measure, 2023 was a year of tremendous progress for our organization and our members, and I hope you take great pride in all the ways you’ve contributed to that success.

At the same time, I feel compelled to acknowledge that for many, this moment may feel far from celebratory. I have been approached by staff who have communicated that the ongoing crisis in Israel and Gaza brings with it grief, anxiety, and heartache. That crisis (and others throughout the world), touch our deepest beliefs and identities - and so too, do acts of hate that have rippled through our city, which must always be a beacon of pluralism. If any of these feelings are weighing heavily on you, please remember that you do not need to bear them alone. The counselors in our Members Health Assistance Program are exceptional, and their services are always available to us. I would strongly encourage anyone to schedule time with them if needed.

I also hope that our work can afford some measure of solace. Every day, the impact we make casts a light that cuts through the darkness - by listening to others and providing for their needs, we reaffirm the inherent value of every life. And in these ways, we help to build the community and the world we hope to see. That world may not be here yet. But I hope you share my conviction that it is a matter of when, not if.

Looking forward to a successful 2024. Wishing everyone a Happy New year!