Membership Update
For the second year in a row hospital and health system leaders in Upstate New York and throughout the nation have risen to meet perhaps the greatest test of their careers — the uncertainty of the COVID -19 pandemic. While there have been hopeful times that the end of the pandemic is near and the world can get back to “normal”, those times have too often been disrupted by changes in the pandemic and changes in state policies that are ill-timed. However, we as an Association have faced these challenges head-long and because of it we are stronger. It is this Association that contributes to the strength and resiliency of New York’s Upstate hospitals and health systems by providing the coherent, unified, regional voice focused on the issues affecting health care in Upstate New York.
We thank you for your continued leadership, membership and dedication to IHA and the work we do together to be so effective. The pandemic has not stopped and neither will we.
The pandemic and the evolving response clearly revealed what we have long known, our members have faced a critical workforce crisis. This crisis is now even more acutely felt with the implementation of mandatory vaccination policies for health care workers and the coming implementation of new staffing ratios. IHA fully supports vaccination efforts to end this pandemic. However, we continually call to policymakers’ attention the fact that the mandate is exacerbating our underlying fragile workforce issues; and the planned implementation of new staffing ratio policies will cause further completely avoidable and unnecessary disruption. Relief is needed and effective solutions are not being offered, despite IHA’s ongoing efforts.
As exhaustion has turned to numbness, IHA will not stop heralding the extraordinary work of all of its members and all of your frontline and support staff.
As we reflect on all of our work over this last year, we are grateful to you for your guidance, generosity and commitment to the mission of IHA. We are in this together!