FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Tim Foley, Political Director
Committee of Interns & Residents
212-356-8100
tfoley@cirseiu.org
COMMITTEE OF INTERNS AND RESIDENTS/SEIU HEALTHCARE ENDORSES MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO AS THE CHAMPION THE CITY’S SAFETY-NET NEEDS IN TROUBLING TIMES
Doctors’ Prescription for New York City: Four More Years of Mayor de Blasio
NEW YORK, NY — The Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR/SEIU Healthcare), the union representing more than 5000 resident physicians in New York City, has endorsed Bill de Blasio for reelection as Mayor of New York City. The union cited de Blasio’s strong track record of fighting for the City’s public safety-net, commitment to maintaining New York City as a safe, welcoming city for its vibrant immigrant communities, and helping ensure healthcare access for all New Yorkers.
“The resident physicians of CIR are proud to stand up once more for Bill de Blasio,” said Dr. Corrielle Caldwell, CIR New York Regional Vice President and a resident in Emergency Medicine at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx. “New York has historically been a city that embraces everyone, and Mayor de Blasio has proven himself to be focused our fight to keep our hospital doors open and providing world class care to all patients, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, immigration status, or income. At a time when our patients, our hospitals, and our communities feel targeted, we know we’ll have a champion in Mayor de Blasio.”
The union’s leaders cited Mayor de Blasio’s comprehensive funding plan to help reduce the New York Health+Hospitals deficit as well as his firm, his outspoken stance on defending the Affordable Care Act and expansion of Medicaid in order to provide healthcare for all, and his track record on prioritizing public health and commonsense policies to help working families lead better, healthier lives.
“Mayor de Blasio has led by example over his first term to make the lives of my patients better,” said Dr. Allan Guiney, a CIR member and a resident in Emergency Medicine Resident at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. “From expanding earned sick time, to the fight for $15, to investments in mental health and fighting opioid addiction, he has taken the critical steps to improve the health of our communities. Bellevue is often the epicenter to the City’s health crises, including the response to Hurricane Sandy and the patients who contracted Ebola, and on a daily basis it acts a safety net for New Yorkers with no other accesses to healthcare. We know that the Mayor will have our back with steady, calm leadership in moments of crisis.”
CIR/SEIU Healthcare, the national voice for residents, expects that having Mayor de Blasio continue his work for another four years will build on his already proven successes in expanding healthcare coverage and ensuring an equitable funding stream for the City’s public hospitals, securing a healthier future for all New Yorkers.
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Founded in 1957, the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR/SEIU Healthcare) is the oldest and largest housestaff union in the U.S., representing more than 14,000 physicians in public and private teaching hospitals across the country. CIR empowers resident physicians to have a voice in their employment and training and to be advocates for their patients.
