- New York 08/07/2024 by Bob Hennelly (WBAI)

Tuesday morning in the 7 a.m. hour, interim program director Keziah Glow and host of Tuesday’s What’s Going On interviewed Dr. Mike Jones, Emergency Department physician with the Doctors Council SEIU. Dr. Jones is at the table negotiating a new contract with the Adams administration, which they hope can end a deepening and serious staffing crisis at NYC Health + Hospitals.

Dr. Jones, who practices at Jacobi Hospital, warned that physician retention was at an all-time low system-wide. Specifically, he noted that the city’s municipal hospital system was seeing the exodus of vital specialists in fields like rheumatology, essential to treat lupus, a chronic disease that hits Black and Brown people disproportionately.

Over several episodes with members of the Doctors Council, WBAI has heard similar disturbing reports about the exodus of maternal/fetal specialists and other critical fields. Physicians have described the loss of the continuity of care coming with a 20 percent spike in ER volume and admissions.

Less than five hours after Dr. Jones' broadcast, we put his question to Mayor Adams in the Blue Room. Listen to the exchange above.