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Dr. Andrew Goldstein proposes solutions for H+H challenges

2:34:58

ยท

85 sec

Dr. Andrew Goldstein responds to Council Member Narcisse's request for priorities, offering a slightly different perspective on addressing the challenges at NYC Health + Hospitals.

  • Dr. Goldstein calls for an immediate pause and reversal of the 20-minute appointment policy
  • He emphasizes the need for input from all stakeholders, including physicians, health workers, patients, and community organizations
  • Dr. Goldstein advocates for fair contracts for all units, especially those considering a strike
  • He stresses the importance of hiring more staff and not accepting workforce shortages as an unchangeable reality
Mercedes Narcisse
2:34:58
Okay.
2:34:58
Doctor Andrew Wilson?
Andrew Goldstein
2:35:01
Yeah.
2:35:02
I'm gonna answer it a little bit similarly but differently.
2:35:05
I think we're not in the moment where we can re envision what should've happened 6 months ago where we were involved in designing this, but we should hit pause right now and reverse it back to the prior, whether that's permanent or during a period to prevent a mass exodus of primary care doctors.
2:35:21
So right now, we do need to stop it and reverse it.
2:35:25
But from there, we do need to have, physician, but all health worker input on this policy, because this affects our front desk staff, our service coordinators, our nurses.
2:35:34
It also affects our patients.
2:35:36
I do not believe patients or community organizations had adequate stakeholder input on this policy.
2:35:41
I don't think they're aware of it.
2:35:42
I think they would like to be aware of it.
2:35:44
So I I want a pause.
2:35:46
I want stakeholder input across the board, and I I want a fair contract for all the units, especially the ones that are considering Stripe right now.
2:35:55
But the last, if you forgive me, a 4th one that I would add is we do need to hire more.
2:36:00
And I don't think we should accept the, oh, there's a primary care workforce, and, oh, hiring is hard, as, like, that's just the reality.
2:36:06
It's hard because we are making care not as high quality as we want it to be.
2:36:10
People feel that when they come and interview, when they see stressed out doctors.
2:36:14
They want to go to a place that feels energetic and mission driven.
2:36:17
We need to restore that, and we need to pay more to be able to hire.
2:36:21
But if we do that, we actually can overcome the workforce shortage.
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