Building Bridges Radio: Your Community & Labor Report

Produced and Hosted by Mimi Rosenberg & Ken Nash over WBAI,99.5FM in the NYC Metro Area

WHO WE ARE

WORKERS OF THE WORLD TUNE IN! Introducing "Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report"

Our beat is the labor front, broadly defined, both geographically and conceptually. We examine the world of work and workers on the job as well as where they live. We examine the issues that affect their everyday lives, with a particular sensitivity towards human rights abuses, environmental concerns and the U.S. drive for global domination. We record their global struggles and provide analysis of their efforts to empower themselves and transform society to provide greater democratic, human, social, political and economic rights. Each program consists of feature stories, generally interviews, within a historical context, often accompanied by sound from demonstrations, rallies or conferences, and complemented and enhanced by poetry and instrumental or vocal -- people's culture.

Over the years Building Bridges has produced a weekly one hour program, Mondays from 7-8 PM EST, covering local, national and international labor and community issues over radio WBAI-Pacifica 99.5 FM in New York. We also produce half hour version, Building Bridges National, which is distribtued to over 40 broadcast and internet radio stations.


For more information you can contact us at knash@igc.org
In Struggle Mimi Rosenberg & Ken Nash

Showing posts with label new york state nurses association. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new york state nurses association. Show all posts

All about 'Medicare for All' and Can it Provide Universal Access to Health Care! - 28:45  

All about ‘Medicare for All’ and Can it Provide Universal Access to Health Care!
with
Donald E. Moore, MD, is a primary care physician and is on the Board of Directors of the NY Metro Chapter of Physicians for a National Health Care Plan
and
Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, RN, President of the NYS Nurses Association
and
Steffie Woolhandler, MD, is a primary care physician, professor of public health and health policy at Hunter College, and clinical professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Secretary of the Physicians for a National Health Care Plan
 

Today, more than 30 million Americans still don’t have health insurance and even more are underinsured. Even for those with insurance, costs are so high that medical bills are the number one cause of bankruptcy in the United States. Incredibly, we spend significantly far more of our national GDP on this inadequate health care system per person than any other major country. And despite doing so, Americans have worse health outcomes and a higher infant mortality rate than countries that spend much less on health care.

Because “Medicare for All” or what has also been referred to as single-payer system is so much in the news, we’re bringing you a live explainer with our experts.

They’ll discuss the current Medicare program.  And what about coverage for long-term care expenses and  coverage of hearing, dental, vision or foot care?  And what’s wrong with expanding ObamaCare – wouldn’t that be easier than passing Medicare-for-All? 
.
We’ll clear up the often-confusing Medicare for All debate, including its history, prospects and terminology.  Medicare for All is a rallying cry for progressives, but even when the Democratic presidential candidates claim to support it there are shades of difference such as the role of Medicare Advantage programs, and the nuances matter – our experts will help unravel the differences.

Some use the term Medicare for All to mean a much less drastic change to the U.S. health care system, such as a “public option” that would offer specific groups of people — perhaps those over age 50 or consumers purchasing coverage on the insurance marketplaces — the opportunity to buy into Medicare coverage

What about the plan offered by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), in which the government would be in charge of paying for all health care — although doctors, hospitals and other health care providers would remain private. And what would happen to union negotiated health care plans?


So, is eliminating private insurance with a move to Medicare for All the answer?  How can be build a Medicare for All Plan? Is a Medicare for All Plan the solution for universal health care?  

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NYC NURSES PROTEST THREATENS STRIKE FOR SAFE STAFFING FOR PATIENTS - 27:58  

It’s a Matter of Life and Death: Thousands of New York Nurses Take to the Street In Threat of Major Strike Over Horrendous Working Conditions Which Seriously Impedes Patient Care
withJudy Sheridan-Gonzalez, RN , NYSNA President, Montefiore Medical Center
and
Karine Raymond,  RN NYSNA .Second Vice President, Montefiore Medical Center



The 42,000 strong members of the New York State Nurses Association have been  fighting for  safe staffing, to keep hospitals open for care, to stop the Wall Street attack on their patients, and win healthcare for all.  Now, after years of complaints, understaffing has become the major point of conflict between the nurses’ union and private hospitals in New York City, as the nurses insist that it seriously impedes their providing the adequate care that their patients deserve. As such, 13,000 nurses could strike this month if their negotiations fail with a group of three major hospital systems, union leaders say.  Nurses from Montefiore, Mount Sinai, St. Luke's-Mount Sinai West, and New York-Presbyterian hospitals authorized a strike last week.

“We’re saying enough is enough,” said Carl Ginsburg, a spokesperson for the union.  On the bargaining table is an increase in nurse-to-patient ratios in emergency rooms and intensive care units. Staffing levels have reached dangerously low levels, putting the safety of both nurses and patients at risk, Ginsburg said. “Sometimes where a nurse should be caring for five patients, she’s caring for eight or 10,” said Ginsburg. “Make no mistake – it’s dangerous.”  Safe staffing is about saving lives. 


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Sandy Survivors' Health Emergency - 27:40  

Health Care Workers Tell Bloomberg:
We’re Not Meeting Sandy Survivors’ Health Needs   


Members of the NYS Nurses Association, NY Physicians for a National Health Program, DC 37, Local 436 of the United Federation of Nurses and Epidemiologists, and other health care organizations, along with Occupy Wall Street demonstrated at City Hall protesting that thousands of New Yorkers who are homeless, or trapped in their homes without power, without elevator service, and heat and hot water are experiencing a health emergency. The healthcare responders recounted their experiences and articulated the medical services needed for the hurricane’s victims in Staten Island, the Rockaways, Coney Island, and Red Hook. They also emphasized the need to expedite reopening local clinics and Coney Island and Bellevue Hospitals to provide care for their

communities. 
 
http://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesRadioSandySurvivorsHealthEmergency
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http://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesRadioSandySurvivorsHealthEmergency/sandynysnantl.mp3
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