Patient Care Funds Support Innovative Projects
Through Patient Care Funds, CIR members have a chance to create and fund programs based on needs they identify in their hospital and their communities. Residents in Los Angeles originated the idea when they negotiated for dedicated funding to cover patients’ needs into their contract starting in 1975. Since then, housestaff around the country have followed suit, using their voice as a union to advocate not just for better compensation and working conditions, but for better care for their patients.
Here are some of the recent initiatives residents organized through their local PCFs:
Massachusetts
Residents at Boston Medical Center have $35,000 set aside annually for their Patient Care Fund. One of the programs that the PCF has supported is the Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights. Through an innovative model of outpatient care, the Center provides comprehensive medical, mental health, and dental care, coordinated with legal and social services to nearly 550 refugees from almost 70 countries each year. Since the largest pockets of refugees live outside metropolitan Boston, and transportation from these suburbs to BMC is often prohibitively expensive, the CIR Patient Care Fund also provides public transportation fare cards.
Florida
CIR members used their PCF this year to help organize the first ever Great American Smokeout at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. The Smokeout is an event designed to give people the resources and support they need to quit smoking. CIR Miami Internal Medicine residents Drs. Sondra Aiken, Deepika Aneja and Damien Hansra were the key organizers of the event, which also had the support of the University of Miami, Jackson Health System, American Cancer Society, Miami-Dade AHEC, Miami VA Health System and UMAHEC. The Smokeout took place at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Alamo Park during lunch hour so that the employees, patients, and community people could attend. PCF funds also helped make Radiology exam rooms more child-friendly, with pictures of forest and ocean scenes on the walls.
New Mexico
The NewMexico CIR PCF committee identified three categories of projects to fund. "The first was to purchase equipment needed to provide top-notch patient care which, for whatever reason, the hospital was not going to purchase in a timely manner," said Dr. Jesse Barnes, who co-chairs the committee. PCF funds paid for several pieces of equipment, including ophthalmoscopes, vascular dopplers and ultrasound training equipment.
The committee then supported individual resident projects addressing patient care needs, in partnership with community organizations. Grants were made to distribute cable gun locks to families with small children and to provide skateboard helmets to area youth. Finally, the committee set up a pharmacy voucher project to help facilitate prompt, safe discharge for indigent patients who couldn’t afford their medications or co-pays. The funds also enabled residents to hold a Halloween party for children with diabetes, which provided diabetic candy and treats, face-painting and games to children who don’t always get to enjoy the holiday with their peers.
New York
Housestaff at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn were inspired by stories at last year’s CIR convention about PCF projects in other regions, and decided to start their own fund. However, they didn’t want to wait until the next contract cycle. The residents started exploring ways to create the fund on their own, "so if it was going well, it would be much easier to negotiate into the next contract," said Dr. Hari Rajasekhar, a Pediatrics resident. Residents contribute, on a voluntary basis, some portion of each paycheck to the fund. Once it’s established, a committee will meet to review proposals and vote on how to spend the money. The hospital agreed to match whatever the residents pay into the fund,Dr.Rajasekhar said, so in future bargaining, the main issue will be how much the hospital contributes, instead of whether or not to create a patient care fund at all.