By LEE SAUNDERS
Administrator, District Council 37, AFSCME
Ever since it was created in 1970 to operate the public hospital system, the Health and Hospitals Corporation’s mission has been to provide medical care for anyone in need, regardless of their ability to pay.

This vision has benefited millions of low-income city residents, the working uninsured and immigrants who otherwise would have failed to receive proper medical treatment.

Emma Chapman is a Harlem community activist who believes deeply in the value of the public hospital system. Her faith comes from firsthand experience. Nine years ago, she suffered a stroke and received months of what she refers to as “tender loving care” at Harlem Hospital.

“The quality of treatment was the best,” Ms. Chapman says. “Communities need their public hospitals.”

But today, the HHC mission — and the underlying belief that medical care is a right for all New Yorkers — are in danger. They are threatened by an alarming increase in the number of uninsured patients (more than 600,000 of whom were treated at public health care facilities last year), and a multi-million dollar funding gap at HHC.

Between 1994 and 1998, HHC lost 12,000 jobs. A report issued recently by the Commission on the Public’s Health System notes that the staff and service cuts have resulted in longer waits for appointments and overcrowded emergency rooms (see PEP, June 2001).

As our members who work in the hospitals know well, the jobs that HHC lost are crucial to patient care. They range from changing bedpans to maintaining accurate medical and financial records, serving hot meals and responding when patients push the buzzer for help. HHC must have the resources to improve staffing, because good medical care is labor-intensive.

A comprehensive plan to heal our public hospitals is sorely needed, and District Council 37 is committed to working toward a solution. As part of the union’s renewed determination to protect the interests of the city’s working families, we have played — and we will continue to play — a pivotal role in drawing attention to the plight of our public hospitals and health care facilities.

We kept the pressure on
When HHC was recently faced with the prospect of shuttering 27 clinics in poor and immigrant neighborhoods, DC 37 and its local unions took to the streets in protest. We worked in coalition with health care advocates, parent-teacher associations and community activists. We called on state legislators, City Council members and the Democratic mayoral candidates to speak out against closing the clinics. And we didn’t ease the pressure until the City Council and Mayor Giuliani agreed on a budget that would keep the clinics open (see stories on pages 3 and 7).

But we cannot sit back and savor this victory.

As New York City employees and residents, we will continue to send a clear message to legislators at City Hall and in Albany that the survival of HHC is critical to the health of our city.

Candidates must come through
With the mayoral race in full swing, we will hold the candidates accountable for keeping HHC whole. Anyone who hopes to occupy Gracie Mansion next year ought to have not only a clear understanding of what’s at stake, but also a prescription for recovery. And we expect all promises made on the campaign trail to be kept.

There is no simple cure for what ails our public health care delivery system. But without the resources to provide adequate staffing, HHC loses its ability to provide adequate care. City and state government need to stop treating the health care needs of poor people and the uninsured like a political football. Instead, they must resolve to help HHC continue to fulfill the mission that saved Emma Chapman and can save the hundreds of thousands of Emma Chapmans who need medical care every day.