Over the coming weeks and months, HHC will be working closely with our trade associations, our labor partners, and our community members to support many aspects of the Executive Budget that we feel are aligned with our mission and seek to modify those few proposals that are not.

Moving on to the City Budget, Mayor Bloomberg released his FY 2009 Preliminary Budget last Friday. The $58 billion preliminary budget seeks to control spending and generate $1.5 billion in savings through agency efficiencies and other actions. In anticipation of the worsening financial picture, last year all City agencies were asked to submit a proposal on how they would maintain City services while reducing City Tax Levy spending by 2.5% in the current fiscal year and 5% for the next fiscal year. The budget uses $4.6 billion in unspent funds to partially close the budget gaps for FY 2008 to FY 2010. The City faces an estimated budget shortfall of $4.2 billion in FY 2010, $5.6 billion in FY 2011, and $5.3 billion in 2012.

• The HHC Foundation has been awarded a $200,000 grant award from the Fan Fox and Leslie Samuels Foundation in support of Metropolitan Hospital's Department of Pain Management and Palliative Care. The newly formed Palliative Care Department at Metropolitan is a leader in HHC's drive to support and develop palliative care services for patients and families who face the challenges of life-threatening or terminal illness. These care options stress dignity and comfort in the context of a more holistic approach to a dying patient's medical, psychological and spiritual needs.

• The Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Nursing Facility has received a $50,000 grant from the New York State Health Department to provide partial funding for a technology initiative to prevent pressure ulcers in residents. The new system, which includes the installation of 16 touch screen monitors throughout the facility, will replace paper patient care records with a digital system that flags known risk factors and prompts care planning teams to address vulnerabilities. The technology is scheduled to be fully implemented by January of 2009, and will provide staff with detailed reports on care data collected from all 320 facility residents on a weekly or even daily basis.

The New York Academy of Medicine is honoring Dr. Barbara Barlow, Director of Surgery at Harlem Hospital, with its fifth annual Lewis and Jack Rudin Prize for Medicine and Health. Dr. Barlow started Harlem's nationally-acclaimed Injury Prevention Program in 1988, and is the national Director of the Injury Free Coalition of injury prevention programs in pediatric trauma centers throughout the U.S. She will accept the award on February 19th, after delivering a lecture about her experiences in the establishment of the injury prevention model of pediatric healthcare. The program reduces injury through education, construction of safe play areas, and the development and support of safe supervised activities with strong adult mentors. Major injury admissions for children in Harlem have decreased more than 60% since the program's inception. The program and Dr. Barlow have received awards from more than a dozen national and local organizations, including the American Hospital Association, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Congratulations to Dr. Barlow for another well-deserved honor.

On January 25th, I had the pleasure of hosting the annual Employee Recognition and Awards Luncheon to honor the employees who were selected by their facility leadership, including Health and Home Care, MetroPlus, and Central Office, as their respective "Employees of the Year".

This annual awards luncheon offers an opportunity to recognize employees throughout our system and at every level of the organization for their work ethic, commitment to our mission, innovation, and professional contributions. Those selected have earned the esteem and respect of their colleagues, and my appreciation for embodying HHC’s mission and its commitment to provide exceptional service to our patients, our communities, and the City of New York.

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Anne-Marie Audet recently began to serve as HHC's Senior Vice President for Quality, a newly created corporate officer position with broad responsibility for overseeing and supporting our system-wide quality improvement efforts and reporting directly to our Executive Vice President, Dr. Ramanathan Raju.

Dr. Audet was selected, after a national search, by a committee of HHC medical and administrative senior leaders. She comes to us from the Commonwealth Fund where she was Vice President for Quality Improvement and Efficiency. She combines comprehensive academic, medical and administrative experience with a longstanding national reputation for effectively establishing, evaluating and facilitating quality improvement initiatives across various settings.

Dr. Audet has worked in the field of quality improvement for nearly two decades. At the national level she worked in policy analysis at the American College of Physicians. At the state level, she led the implementation of the Medicare Health Care Quality Improvement Program in Massachusetts while working at the Massachusetts Peer Review Organization.

Dr. Audet currently holds an Assistant Professorship on the faculty of Medicine and Public Health at Cornell University. She previously served on the faculties of Harvard University and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She also served as director of the Office for Clinical Effectiveness/Process Improvement at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, where she was responsible for development of quality measurement systems, educational programs, and institution-wide medication safety initiatives.

Dr. Audet earned undergraduate and graduate degrees related to healthcare from McGill University, as well as a master’s degree in health policy and management from Harvard University.

I am delighted to have Dr. Audet join our senior management team as we continue to pursue a very ambitious agenda across many quality improvement fronts.

• January 2, 2008 – Elmhurst Hospital delivered HHC’s and New York City’s first baby of 2008. Little Isabella Sophia Sears, granddaughter of City Council Member Helen Sears, was born moments after the stroke of midnight. She shares the bragging rights with another baby girl delivered at New York Hospital-Queens. The story was covered by the New York Daily News, Newsday, New York Post, El Diario, and television channels 2, 4, 5, 9, 11.

• January 2 – The New York Times reported on the decrease in overall HIV infection rates among older gay men and noted the sharp increase in men under 30. The article quoted Harlem Hospital’s Chief of Infectious Disease, Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, who said it is unconscionable that there has not been a decrease in new infections in the past decade in the U.S.

• January 3 – WNBC/Channel 4 - Today in New York reported on the Children of Bellevue, Inc. efforts to raise money for pediatric services by selling neckties designed by the hospital’s pediatric patients. The special line of ties is being sold in Macy’s stores with 7 percent of the proceeds going to support Child Life Services. Several participants were interviewed, with one young woman noting how happy she was to have her design seen and worn by so many people, and for such a good cause.

• January 14 – The New York Times published a Letter to the Editor written by HHC President Alan Aviles in response to an article on the financial troubles of Atlanta’s safety-net hospital, Grady Memorial Hospital. Mr. Aviles’ letter noted the financially precarious footing safety-net providers across the country find themselves in because of the impending federal rule changes that would cut financing to safety-net hospitals by $5 billion over five years.

• January 15 – The New York Times and Newsday reported on Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer’s new “Go Green East Harlem Cookbook” that contains healthy recipes for dishes created by people who live, work or contribute to the East Harlem community. Included in the cook book is a recipe from our own Marion L. Bell, the First Vice Chairwoman of Metropolitan Hospital Center’s Community Advisory Board, for "Sweet Potatolicious" - a healthy dish made with sweet potatoes, pineapple and apple sauce.

• January 22 – The New York Sun reported on New York State’s Medicaid inpatient reimbursement rate adjustments to be phased in over the next three years. The article quoted Marlene Zurack, HHC Sr. Vice President of Finance, who shared that some hospitals may find themselves worse off depending on their specialty medical practice, but noted HHC will be better off overall by $7 million once the rate adjustments are fully implemented.

• January 28 – Crain’s New York Business reported on the shortage of skilled workers in three key industries in New York City, including healthcare. The article noted the steps HHC is taking to both increase staff retention and increase the number of nurses entering the profession. Several Nurse Career Ladder program students and Ms. Denise Soares, Jacobi’s Chief Nurse Executive were interviewed. Ms. Soares noted that retention of experienced staff is as important as recruiting new staff.