GNYHA released its Emergency Preparedness Initiatives and Activities: 2017 Annual Report, which details trainings and programs covering various emergency preparedness topics; collaborative workgroups that addressed complex issues; and our monthly Emergency Preparedness Coordinating Council, during which GNYHA, government response partners, and hospital and health system emergency managers from across the region gather to discuss various…

More than 1,200 people attended GNYHA’s 2018 Annual Meeting and Reception, which was held on May 16 at the Jacob Javits Center’s River Pavilion in Manhattan. GNYHA President Kenneth E. Raske, in his opening address, discussed the recently enacted New York State budget and hailed Governor Andrew Cuomo and the legislative leaders for the budget’s…

As the 2018 Coastal Storm season approaches, GNYHA is accelerating implementation of a component of its new Sit Stat 2.0 system, which is the successor to its Sit Stat 1.0 emergency management system. The Sit Stat 2.0 component that will be implemented immediately—on a limited basis—is EMResource, which will replace the survey-based data collection tool…

Representatives Joe Crowley (D-NY) and Ryan Costello (R-PA), and Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Dean Heller (R-NV), sent a letter last week to Congressional leaders requesting the inclusion of the Opioid Workforce Act of 2018 (H.R.5818/S.2843) in any opioid-related legislative package that moves through Congress. The GNYHA-supported bill would fund 1,000 additional residency positions in…

US Representative Doris Matsui (D-CA) introduced last week the Stretching Entity Resources for Vulnerable (SERV) Communities Act (H.R.6071), which would bolster the 340B Drug Pricing Program. GNYHA supports this legislation and is grateful for Representative Matsui’s leadership on this issue. Other supportive organizations include the American Hospital Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, America’s Essential…

GNYHA’s Opioid Advisory Group met on June 12 to continue developing a work plan to help members address the opioid epidemic. The discussion centered on the various hospital settings that allow for opportunities to increase interactions with individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) and advocacy opportunities and relationship building that will support a broader community…

The Joint Commission (TJC) announced that is implementing a new process for assessing the safety culture of hospitals and critical access hospitals during accreditation surveys. Announced changes to the survey process include the following: Surveyors will request the most recent hospital safety culture survey results with the required documents listed in TJC’s Survey Activity Guide…

GNYHA is pleased to share the attached Workers’ Compensation Toolkit, which incorporates material from several GNYHA programs on employee-centered workers’ compensation programs, with additional supportive materials and resources. The toolkit also includes several member-developed tools that have been formatted as templates for adaption to your specific institution. GNYHA thanks the members who presented at our…

Legislation is moving in Albany that would have a deleterious impact on hospital negotiations with health plans. GNYHA and the Healthcare Association of New York State are working hard to stop it, and I urge all GNYHA members to contact their State Senators as soon as possible to ensure the bill does not pass before…