OUR UNION
1199ers Are Transforming Health Care In Brooklyn One Brooklyn’s vision is addressing the disparities that have long plagued underserved communities. What started as a hospital beautification project has become a historic initiative that’s transforming healthcare and addressing longexisting disparities in Central and Eastern Brooklyn. United under the banner of the One Brooklyn Health System (OBHS), Kingsbrook Jewish, Interfaith, and Brookdale Medical Centers are ensuring and improving healthcare for Brooklynites in some of the borough’s highest-need areas. (Wyckoff Hospital was included in the original plan but has since left the project.) 1199SEIU members are playing a central role in the OBHS initiative by partnering with management, elected officials, and the community to win investment in primary and preventative healthcare and the preserve good paying jobs. “I have lived in Brooklyn for 47 years and this could not have come at a better time,” says Brookdale Radiological Technologist Paulette Forbes, a long-time delegate and member of Brookdale’s Transformation Committee. “This system is our home when it comes to any kind of healthcare and with all the struggles we have been though, it’s incredible to reflect and see where we are today. Our hospitals are going to stay open and provide services that are much needed in our communities.” (In addition to Forbes, the OBHS Overview Committee includes members Clandra St. Kitts, Genelle 12
January-February 2021
Jones, Delta Williams, Sybilla Daniel Douglas, Pauline James, Roxanne Cook- Cornelius, Jeanette Harper, Cherly Thorne-Bumpus, Denise St. Bernard, Ian Dawkin, and Lisa Forde Mentore.) Long-term, the initiative will improve primary and preventative care, centralize and maximize longterm care, reduce duplication of services, and increase availability of services like drug treatment and mental health care. Plans include the construction of a new healthcare village and a significant number of affordable housing units. Central to this undertaking were labor committees, who made sure workers were heard, they were not displaced, and no wages, benefits or seniority were lost. To help with this, the institution-based committees established a resource center, where members could bring questions and concerns. “I felt an obligation and responsibility to make sure the transformation takes place in a timely manner and in the best interests of 1199 members,” says Patient Care Tech Ian Dawkins, a Kingsbrook Jewish Transformation Committee member. OBHS is rooted in the 2005 fight to save Crown Heights’ St. Mary’s Medical Center. The loss of that safety net hospital was emblematic of the longstanding, fatal neglect of
