Empire BlueCross BlueShield and Montefiore Health System announced a new agreement on Feb. 9 on improving access to quality healthcare for people throughout New York City, Westchester and the Hudson Valley. According to a press release, this latest multi-year agreement continues the longstanding relationship between the two organizations, and features several new community outreach initiatives including health events, a partnership to support nutrition services for at-risk populations, and a mobile health unit to deliver essential testing and screening focused on improving the health of the community.

 

Alan Murray, president of Empire BlueCross BlueShield said the group is on a mission to materially and measurably improve the health of all New Yorkers, and that his team knows there are many critical healthcare needs in the Bronx, which ranks 62 out of New York’s 62 counties for health outcomes, a point reported previously by the Norwood News. 

 

“Today, as part of our mission, we signed a new agreement with Montefiore Health System that solidifies our commitment to protect affordability and access to quality care for our members,” Murray said. “In these extraordinary times, it’s critical we build a more meaningful partnership that focuses on improving the health of the communities we jointly serve.”

Meanwhile, Colleen Blye, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Montefiore Health System, said as the group continues to face the challenges of the pandemic, innovative arrangements with insurers enable Montefiore to provide the best quality healthcare. “Our new agreement with Empire BlueCross BlueShield is built on our mutual commitment to the communities we serve, and sets us on a continued path forward, together, to serve our patients,” she said.

 

Representatives said Montefiore’s ongoing investments include funding a robust telehealth program, establishing a COVID vaccine trials unit, and creating a research and care clinic, offering treatment for COVID patients with long-term chronic symptoms and related health issues. Montefiore serves a population of approximately three million people. Between March and June of 2020, at the height of the COVID pandemic, representatives said it treated, and safely discharged more than 8,000 patients back to their homes.

 

Meanwhile, representatives for Empire BlueCross BlueShield said the new deal builds on its mission and existing commitment to improving health outcomes in the Bronx. The group’s work to date in the borough has included community health events like mask and sanitizer distribution, and flu pop-up clinics earlier this year, as well as grants for City Harvest’s Mobile Market Program and NYC Parks’ Shape Up program through the Empire’s Foundation. Additionally, Empire is partnering with BronxNet Community Television and is a sponsor of the Go Bronx podcast.

The Bronx was the epicenter of the first wave of COVID-19. Montefiore representatives said the system increased its bed capacity by 100 percent to treat COVID-19 patients, initially without federal or state funding. As part of its rapid response, representatives said Montefiore spent upwards of $350 million to procure personal protective equipment (PPE), establish seven COVID-19 testing sites throughout the Bronx and Westchester, and hired additional out-of-state frontline staff to bolster existing teams.

 

To date, there have been 3,908 deaths in the Bronx as a result of COVID-19. The attached charts show the latest cases, hospitalizations and death trends in the borough over the last three months. In August, a new mobile health clinic was opened in Morris Heights as part of the organized efforts by community and City leaders to curb the spread of the coronavirus, particularly among residents of low-income housing.

In October, the Norwood News reported that Council Members Vanessa L. Gibson and Fernando Cabrera appeared on BronxNet television on Oct. 19, to endorse Neighborhood Health Plan recommendations put forth by the Jerome Avenue Public Health Task Force. The recommendations had been drafted after 18 months of meetings with both council members, the Bronx Neighborhood Health Action Center of the NYC health department, and various community stakeholders after the passage of the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan.

Last November, in advance of the presidential election, we also reported generally on the topic of health and healthcare in the Bronx as part of our Bronx Connections local lens series in collaboration with BronxNet and WFUV.

 

Blye’s comments were echoed by Marcos Crespo, senior VP of community affairs at Montefiore Health System who said the new agreement represented the shared commitment of Empire BlueCross BlueShield and Montefiore Health System to making the targeted health and community investments that are needed during this time of unprecedented challenge to health and economic wellbeing.

 

“We know there are many critical healthcare needs in the Bronx, which ranks 62 out of New York’s 62 counties for health outcomes,” said Crespo. “And we’re excited about several new community outreach initiatives which are part of this agreement.”