Our Bureau
New York, NY
NYC Health + Hospitals’ NYC Care program partnered with the NYC Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit’s GetCoveredNYC team on a city-wide “Immigrant Health Care Day of Action.” The outreach effort mobilized dozens of agency staff, community-based organization partners, and volunteers who participated in canvassing, tabling, and posting social media messaging to get the word out. NYC Care Executive Director Dr. Jonathan Jiménez and the NYC Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit Executive Director Adrienne Lever helped to kick off the day of action that morning by joining a health fair organized NYC Care partner Mixteca.
Mixteca and NYC Care partner South Asian Council for Social Services (SACSS) celebrated their organizations’ 25-year anniversaries by launching health fairs and organizing their staff to join the outreach effort. As the day went on, organizers and volunteers canvassed in neighborhoods with the highest concentration of NYC Care-eligible immigrant New Yorkers to speak about the importance of health care access and primary care. The city-wide mobilization served to remind all New Yorkers that health care is available regardless of one’s immigration status or ability to pay.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the staff, community partners, and volunteers who came together during today’s Day of Action with the mission of helping to keep New Yorkers from immigrant communities healthy,” said Jonathan Jiménez, MD, MPH, Executive Director of NYC Care from NYC Health + Hospitals.
“Something as simple as a five-minute conversation about the benefits of NYC Care can have a lasting impact. I would also underscore that your privacy is important to us, and you are not required to share information about your immigration status to receive care when you visit our hospitals and clinics. New Yorkers interested in learning more about NYC Care can visit NYCCare.NYC or call 646-692-2273.”
“Everyone in this city has a right to health care- regardless of immigration status,” said Adrienne Lever, Executive Director, Public Engagement Unit. “In today’s climate too many of our neighbors are afraid to access the services they need. That’s why our team at PEU is out on the streets, helping spread the word that NYC is committed to ensuring safe access to health coverage and offering immigrant communities hands-on support with applications for NYC Care.”
In-Person Partners Included: Make The Road NY, Met Council, Emerald Isle Immigration Center, Korean Community Services, Trinidadians and Tobagonians USA, Community Church of Christ and Mixteca.
NYC Care has grown to roughly 140,000 active members and has provided over one million primary care appointments for its members. Since launching in 2019, it has provided hundreds of thousands of specialty care appointments, including 365,226 women’s health appointments, 284,766 eye care appointments, and 187,425 behavioral health appointments.
NYC Care’s community-based organization partners have reached over 1 million New Yorkers, scheduled over 43,000 enrollment appointments, and facilitated over 17,000 direct enrollments. Last month, the program hosted a media roundtable to remind immigrant New Yorkers of their rights and the resources available to them, regardless of their immigration status or ability to pay.
From working with the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene to launch the Groceries to Go program providing discounted groceries for members, to developing multi-lingual video series about the program and deploying public awareness campaigns, NYC Care continues to champion the health needs of all New Yorkers.
NYC Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit Executive Director Adrienne Lever (second from right) and NYC Care Executive Director Dr. Jonathan Jiménez (right) pose with PEU outreach staff before distributing flyers in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
