Setting the Agenda: Expert Analysis on Health

Ensuring the Health and Safety of New York's Patients and Nurses
Jill Furillo, Executive Director of the New York State Nurses Association

Across the state, 37,000 registered nurses of the New York State Nurses Association share a common goal: to protect patients and quality of care. Our organizational agenda seeks to accomplish this goal in several important areas.

The Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act is key to furthering our efforts to support the professional judgment of registered nurses at the bedside and for protecting patient care. Staffing ratios—the number of patients each nurse cares for based upon patient acuity—are a top priority for NYSNA in 2015. The ratios we seek are based upon scientific evidence of outcomes. Virtually every nurse in every facility has a story to share about short-staffing and the potential harm that results.

We also support New York Health, legislation that would provide universal access to healthcare for all New Yorkers. This single payer proposal would make patient needs the priority for all healthcare decisions and eliminate commercial insurance costs and barriers.

NYSNA seeks to protect the rights, working conditions and economic security of nurses and other healthcare providers, as well as all working people in New York. With regard to registered nurses, NYSNA supports legislation to limit their hours of work, prohibit mandatory overtime and otherwise allow them to fulfill their professional duties under fair and decent working conditions.

Overall, NYSNA seeks to expand the role of the public and direct care providers in regulatory matters at the state and local level, so as to enhance an equitable distribution of healthcare resources and address the public’s health needs.

Healthcare Providers Transforming Care Throughout New York State
Dennis P. Whalen, President of the Healthcare Association of New York State

This is a time of tremendous transformation and reform for healthcare— an opportunity to continue our progress toward making our system as effective and efficient as it can be. Through innovative patient-centered, coordinated care models, New York’s hospitals and health systems are providing state-of-the-art care that meets patient needs and reduces costs.

Numerous initiatives are underway, including those from the Medicaid Redesign Team, the Medicaid waiver and Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment program and the State Health Innovation Plan. Additionally, over the past year the state has been aggressively working to reduce the number of uninsured by establishing the New York State of Health marketplace, making insurance coverage available to a broader range of the population—coverage that must be meaningful and affordable.

Hospitals and health systems have embraced the goals of these reforms in spite of the numerous challenges they face—the fiscal condition of New York’s hospitals is among the worst in the nation. Additional capital and operational transitional support are critical to the continued transformation of our healthcare system.

Nonetheless, providers continue to be steadfast in their mission to deliver high-quality care around the clock and remain prepared to respond to the next emergency or natural disaster. Hospitals continually implement the latest approaches to enhance patient care and collaborate with community partners to keep populations healthy, prevent illness, and coordinate patient care.

We look forward to continuing our partnership with the governor and the legislature on these critical issues.