CWA 1180 Training and Education

1180 members at HHC: "We are the organs that keep the body of healthcare going"
March 2003

If Luz Hernandez weren't there to do her job, patients at Lincoln Hospital couldn't get appointments.

If Jean Ringo weren't there to do her job, equipment like MRI machines wouldn't be there when patients at Bellevue Hospital need it.

If Alma Colon weren't there to do her job, nurses at Woodhull Hospital wouldn't get paid.

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HCC) runs the city's public hospitals and provide healthcare to millions of New Yorkers, many of whom would have no recourse to medical care at all were it not for the city's facilities. Some 1,000 Local 1180 members work in HHC, from the central office to the front-line clinics. They do an enormous range of work, most of it unseen to the public; but without them supplies, payrolls, funding and other vital functions of the system would grind to a halt. "We are the organs that keep the body of healthcare going," explained Clarona Williams, the shop steward at Woodhull Hospital.

Like workers at other city agencies, 1180 members at HHC have had to deal with dwindling staff, and have worked hard to provide services to the public despite cutbacks, inadequate funding and increased workloads. The city's public health system is reeling from a one-two punch: first an all-out assault by Rudy Giuliani, and now a budget crisis. The impact of the state budget cuts and Medicaid cuts that are currently under discussion would be devastating.

"Local 1180 members are proud of what they do and they work very hard," said Dorothy Harris, the chief steward at Bellevue Hospital. Here, in their own words, is a snapshot of what 1180 members in HHC—Principal Administrative Associates, Assistant Coordinating Managers and Health Care Program Planner Analysts—do, why it matters, and what their concerns are.

Linda Goddard, PAA, Woodhull Hospital:

"I'm responsible for administrative clerical support in the Chemical Dependency Unit of the Psychiatry Department. I supervise two people, one who does front-line office activity, the other who assists the medical director. I am directly responsible for timekeeping and payroll processes. And I handle whatever questions the staff might have. It's pretty much behind the scenes, but what would happen if we weren't there? The Chemical Dependency Unit has two in-patient unit and an outpatient clinic, and an intake bureau that assesses and evaluates all patients. We also have tobacco cessation. Most of the patients come here under duress, but once they comply with treatment mandates, we see really different people going out than came in.

"What concerns me most is budget cuts. You always have hiring freezes, you lose staff that's not replaced, you get more work. A constant fear is the loss of staff. And I think that burnout is a big problem. Now with these new budget cuts, we are almost sure to lose more people. We're just waiting for the other shoe to drop."

Jean Ringo, PAA, Bellevue Hospital:

"I work in Fixed Assets Capital Budget. Everything that's an asset, I have to physically look at, tag it [add a barcode], input it into a computer. Orders for medical products, I get the signatures, input them for payment, do the spreadsheets, enter everything into the system. Without that, the big equipment wouldn't be there when patients need it."

Jonathan Olufade, HCPPA, Woodhull Hospital:

"I'm in charge of data in Clinical Operations. I maintain data, analyze data for all clinical operations."

Clarona Williams, PAA and steward, Woodhull Hospital:

"My department has been without a receptionist for several years. So there's constant interruption. It's hard to function that way."

Martha Deas, PAA, Lincoln Hospital:

"I supervise in the Medical Clinic. I basically do everything, closing, opening, ensuring that the clinic is running properly. It's very challenging. I do troubleshooting for patients; I like that, solving problems.

"A lot of co-workers have left and were never replaced. It's like working with a skeleton crew, we have to do more with less. The job is very demanding."

Alma Colon, ACM, Woodhull Hospital:

"I do statistics, answering phones, setting up meetings and interviews, timesheets-making sure people get paid. And we work on policies, too. All the policies and procedures are online and have to be reviewed and revised; once it's approved, we put it online. Basically we do everything that has anything to do with nursing, which is pretty big. We make sure the nurses get paid, that they follow the policies, that they're certified and their licenses are up-to-date."

Luz Hernandez, ACM, Lincoln Hospital:

"I work at the Appointment Unit. We make appointments for patients. We also do referral appointments. We're running two departments now, running the outside referrals department as well. We work with the different satellite clinics. When we talk to patients, we have to find out of the plan [their insurance] is accepted by the hospital, and if it's not, we have to call the plan to see if they'll pay it. There's always a lot of changes in the templates, in the system; we have to be on top of that.

"We get a lot of calls from non-English speakers. Medicine [the primary care clinic] used to have five or six Spanish-speaking doctors; now they only have one, and she is overwhelmed. Language is a big problem! Patients don't like to talk through a third person, they don't want to tell everyone their private matters."

Donna Washington, ACM, Woodhull Hospital:

"I work in Nursing Administration, secretarial. Answering phones, doing projects, like Power Point projects, working on minutes for meetings, data entry."

Yvonne Wright, ACM, Woodhull Hospital:

"I work in Infection Control. Day-to-day we are responsible for making sure all staff comply with infection control protocols."

Connie Saunders, ACM, Woodhull Hospital:

"I work in Education and Research, under Nursing. I do the orientation scheduling, packets for staff, registering people who need to take courses, setting up the instructors, making sure the equipment is there. A lot of coordinating. Too much to remember, but it gets done.

"We are very much overworked. You've got one person doing four or five jobs. And a lot of time those that work really hard get no recognition."

Toan Trinh, PAA, Lincoln Hospital:

"I do statistics for the state, dealing with money from the city and state. Part of it is making sure we get money from state and federal governments.

"Everywhere is understaffed, but we don't have a choice."

Patricia Moses, PAA, Lincoln Hospital:

"I work in the Emergency Services Department in Administration. I'm the secretary to the senior associate director, and to the secretary to the associate director of nursing. I answer phones, book appointments, keep schedules, take care of the filing system, assist with memos, take minutes in different departmental meetings, and make sure my boss is aware of any emergencies immediately. The ER is a 24-hour-a-day operation."

Zoraida Castillo, PAA, Woodhull Hospital:

"I work on board reports for Quality Management. They're quarterly reports, so every day there's reports to compile, from risk management to infection control, etc. The quarterly reports go to [HHC headquarters on] Worth Street. It's got information on everything that goes on in Woodhull."

Zowie Geiger, ACM, Woodhull Hospital:

"I work in the Medical Affairs Office, and am responsible for maintaining all the credentials files for all of the doctors."

Miriam Mercado, ACM, Lincoln Hospital:

"My boss is the associate director for Statistics and Reimbursements. I do a lot of multiple skills, phones, messages, faxes, setting up meetings, the GME [Graduate Medical Education] petition surveys. I'm responsible for checks that come in. Sometimes I work with the budget, help set up budget meetings and scheduling. In that facility I have two accounts payable. It's a lot of numbers!"

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