By Nelson A. King
A public relations and strategic
communications firm in
the city says Emergency Medical
Service Unions (EMS) are
in the process of suing the city
for gender-and-race wage discrimination
“due to employers
being predominately women
and people of color.”
“In 2019, FDNY EMS
responded to more than 1.5
million medical emergency
calls – a record high – even as
job vacancies and massive
turnover threaten to undermine
medical care for New
Yorkers,” said Alyssa Cambria,
an account executive at Butler
Associates, LLC, in an email to
Caribbean Life, referring to the
Fire Department of New York.
As a result, she said union
leaders and EMS workers in
late January testified before the
City Council about “how highly
stressful conditions and exceptionally
low wages are resulting
in high employee turnover
rates.”
Cambria said FDNY Emergency
Medical Technicians covered
a lot of ground in 2019,
responding to more than 1.5
million medical emergencies,
of which more than one-third
were considered “the highest
level of life-threatening emergency,”
NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County Launches Bariatric
Weight Loss Center To Improve Care for Obese Patients
Caribbean L 26 ife, March 6-12, 2020
such as cardiac arrest,
choking and loss of consciousness,
“requiring fast and very
specialized treatment in a
high-pressure timeframe.”
In their testimony before
the City Council, Cambria said
high ranking FDNY officials,
EMS workers and union leaders
underscored their “dedication
to protect lives, while
expressing very serious concerns
linked to the high stress
environment, coupled with
exceptionally low wages and
the resulting high turnover in
personnel.”
For example, Cambria said
an entry level FDNY EMT
starts at $33,320 or about $16
per hour, which is “roughly $1
higher than the current minimum
wage.”
The salary of New York
Police Department (NYPD)
officers and FDNY firefighters,
in contrast, she said, starts at
$45,000 “and can more than
double after five years on the
job.”
Cambria said EMTs and paramedics
are also called on to
respond to other major emergencies,
including active shooter
incidents, stabbings, hostage
taking situations, and chemical,
biological and radiological
emergency, in addition to regular
life-threatening emergencies,
like heart attacks, strokes,
or drug overdoses.
In light of what she described
as ‘the high turnover caused
by low wages,” Cambria said
an estimated 65 percent of all
FDNY EMS staff have less than
three years on the job and 75
percent have less than five
years.”
She lamented that the city
pays to train and certify these
uniformed workers “and, at the
first opportunity, they leave for
similar jobs with private companies,
other municipalities or
different city agencies paying
considerably more.”
Cambria said City Council
leaders “admonished FDNY
officials who testified that the
department was powerless to
Members of the FDNY Emergency Medical Services unit
stand outside the One World Financial Center building in
New York, Jan. 21, 2009. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
improve wages, something only
the New York City Office of
Labor Relations and the mayor
had the authority over.”
She said Council members
also “pressed for a commitment
to give EMT’s wages commensurate
with NYPD officers
and FDNY Firefighters.”
Cambria quoted Oren Barzilay,
president of FDNY EMS,
Local 2507, as testifying: “We
have wonderful recruits who
come here to start their medical
careers and simply cannot
afford to stay.”
EMS unions threaten to sue for gender
and race wage discrimination
NYC Health + Hospitals/
Kings County has created
an integrated, team focused
approach to weight loss that
includes surgical, medical,
nutritional, psychiatric, and
exercise components. The
medical and family physicians
at NYC Health + Hospitals/
Kings County actively
identify patients who would
benefit from surgical intervention
for weight loss. Together,
surgery and medicine
work to optimize a patient’s
health and medical conditions
in preparation for weight loss
surgery. Patients are given
nutritional education from
an experienced bariatric nutritionist,
supervised physical
education and exercise
classes, and continued medical
oversight throughout their
entire weight loss journey.
Individuals with a body
mass index (BMI) of 35 or
greater are good candidates
for Bariatric Weight Loss
Surgery. Morbid obesity is a
significant national health issue.
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC)
reports that 64 percent of all
U.S. adults are overweight or
obese. Obesity is correlated
to the development of other
critical diseases such as high
blood pressure, diabetes and
heart disease.
NYC Health + Hospitals/
Kings County offers two types
of Bariatric Surgery. Sleeve
Gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y
Bypass. Both surgeries are
performed laparoscopically,
with small incisions for faster
healing. Bariatric surgery
works by reducing the amount
of food that fits in the stomach
and changing the way the patient
absorbs food.
It takes one to three hours
to perform Bariatric Surgery.
Patients will stay in the hospital
the night after surgery
and possibly be released in
one or two days after the procedure.
Additionally, patients
are placed on a unique diet for
a few weeks in order to heal
safely. Most patients are back
to normal activities within
two to four weeks after surgery.
After surgery, patients
will visit the Weight Loss Center
to consult with their physician
and receive nutrition
education from a registered
dietitian and prepare for lifelong
health habits to support
weight loss after operation.
“We’re incredibly excited
to introduce bariatric surgery
because of the impending impact
to the demographic we
serve,” said Nicholas Morin,
D.O., Director of Bariatric Surgery
at NYC Health + Hospitals/
Kings County. “The rates
of diabetes and hypertension
are high in Central Brooklyn,
and surgical weight loss can
really combat these issues.
The Bariatric program will
be an excellent resource for
patients that are ready to take
bold steps toward improving
their health.”
For more information
about Bariatric Surgery at
NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings
County, please email Kingscountyweightloss@
nychhc.
org or call 718-245-3325.
About NYC Health + Hospitals/
Kings County
NYC Health + Hospitals/
Kings County is a 624-bed acute
care teaching hospital located in
Central Brooklyn. Among our
highly specialized programs
are a Level I Trauma Center, Pediatric
Emergency Room, Level
3 Perinatal Center, Heart Health
Center, Stroke Center, Sickle Cell
Program, Behavioral Health
Center, and Diabetes Education
Center of Excellence. Many of
our programs have received
national recognition, including
our cardiac, stroke and diabetes
services. The hospital offers a
broad array of primary and specialty
care, including practices
in neuroscience, orthopedics,
urology and cardiology. Annually,
our ambulatory care clinics
see well over 500,000 visits, and
more than 150,000 visits in the
Behavioral Health outpatient
program, in addition to close
to 23,000 inpatient discharges.
NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings
County has played a major role
in providing health care to vulnerable
populations in Brooklyn
since 1831, and is part of NYC
Health + Hospitals, the largest
public health care system in the
nation. For more information
visit, nychealthandhospitals.
org/kingscounty.
HE A LTH C ARE PROF I L E – ADV ERT I S EMENT
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