QUESTION
What has been the spending on traveling nurses since fiscal year 2024, and how does it compare with hiring permanent nurses?
0:39:15
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133 sec
NYC Health and Hospitals has spent a considerable amount on traveling nurses since fiscal 2024, with efforts to decrease expenses by hiring permanent nurses.
- NYC Health and Hospitals aims to reduce reliance on traveling nurses by setting an 18-month target for each facility.
- The successful hiring of 850 new permanent nurses is attributed to an attractive contract.
- The financial strategy includes adjusting expenses to align with the budget, previously exceeded by $150 million.
- The conversation explores the possibility of saving funds by hiring permanent nurses instead of relying on traveling nurses.
- Councilmember Narcisse emphasizes the importance of fairly compensating resident nurses to encourage them to stay in New York City.
Mercedes Narcisse
0:39:15
How much have you spent on traveling nurses since fiscal 2024 adapted?
Mitch Katz
0:39:21
A large number.
John Ulberg
0:39:22
It's a large number.
0:39:23
And it's it's one that's always moving down at this point as Doctor.
0:39:28
Katz had mentioned.
0:39:31
But we can provide you with the numbers for 2324 and even, you know, what we're projecting.
0:39:37
We we call this internally the glide path path, right, it's an 18 month period by which we want to we've set targets for each of our facilities to try to reduce the number that we have.
0:39:48
And again, I think the good news certainly the good news for me from a financial perspective, and I think a good news right for the hospital is that we have hired 850 new nurses and that really the reason for that is the contract we think with the nurses is a good one and it's attracting high quality nurses that are permanently going to be to be ours.
0:40:11
But an answer to the numb we can get you certainly provide to the committee the amount of money that we have spent.
0:40:18
It is a tremendously large number.
Mercedes Narcisse
0:40:20
You know, as being a registered nurse, I have to say that based on the amount of money that you had paid, on those nurses.
0:40:29
So when you have the resident nurse working, I hope they get a pay that almost or equal or even more because the fact that staying in the city of York, so at least we can uplift them and they can stay in our city.
0:40:45
How much have you spent on traveling nurse?
0:40:48
I said that in comparison to have you analyzed?
0:40:51
How much funding this city will save if hired permanent nurses instead, which I was leading to it.
John Ulberg
0:40:59
Yeah.
0:41:00
I'll say it's It's an interesting, you know, budget concept.
0:41:05
It's not that we're saving money.
0:41:08
We're actually bringing spending back down to what the budget affords.
0:41:12
And last year when we met, I think we've reported a number of $150,000,000 in expenses that was not included in our budget.
0:41:22
So what we're really trying to do is bring those expenses down to meet the budget target step.
0:41:27
That we can afford.