Spotlight on Your Funds
July 2021
Benefit and Pension Funds’ Boards of Trustees Met in June
The 1199SEIU Benefit and Pension Funds’ Boards of Trustees held their Joint Annual Meeting on Thursday, June 17, and Friday, June 18, onsite at the Funds’ Manhattan Headquarters at 498 Seventh Avenue, and via Zoom. Executive Director Donna Rey, EdD, who succeeded Mitra Behroozi after her retirement in March, presented the Funds’ 2020 Year in Review and highlights from the first quarter of 2021. Dr. Rey also reported on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ways in which the Funds continued to support your 1199SEIU employees and members, as well as fulfill fiduciary responsibilities. In addition, Dr. Rey announced the retirement in June of the Funds’ General Counsel, Jeffrey Stein, and the naming of his successor, Suzanne Metzger. Suzanne has worked at the Funds for more than 15 years, first as an assistant general counsel and then as the associate general counsel. Her duties have included ERISA and ACA compliance and other statutory compliance work, litigation, and advising plan administrators and Trustees on legal issues related to the administration of the Funds’ various healthcare, pension, training and child-care plans. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College in 2000 and a Doctorate in Law from Western New England College School of Law on an Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., full scholarship in 2003.

You may view a PDF of Dr. Rey’s Home Care Benefit and Pension Funds presentation. For more information, please contact Trustee Relations Administrator Christina Ruiz at [email protected].
Registered Apprenticeship Programs Help Healthcare Workers Gain Skills to Meet Industry Needs
The 1199SEIU Training and Employment Funds’ (TEF) Registered Apprenticeship (RA) Program is helping to train healthcare workers, particularly for high-demand and emerging careers in the industry. Since launching its first apprenticeship program in November 2016, TEF has registered seven apprenticeships with the U.S. Department of Labor and state departments of labor in New York, Massachusetts and Maryland for Medical/Hospital Coder, Community Health Worker, Certified Nurse Aide, Patient Care Technician, Home Health Aide (HHA), Central Sterile Processing Technician and Licensed Practical Nurse. A total of more than 220 apprentices have been registered to date.

While the home health industry often experiences high turnover among and difficulty recruiting HHAs, RA programs help improve staff retention by creating a supportive work environment led by peer mentors, along with academic training, test preparation and tutoring. Participants “earn while they learn,” combining classroom education with practical skills to create a reliable supply of qualified employees. TEF has piloted RA programs in HHA specialty titles, including peer trainers, with the HHA Peer Trainer program launched in 2018. Twenty-six apprentices were trained in the first group, who completed their program in November 2018, while five additional trainees completed the program in February 2021. TEF is planning to train an additional 180 apprentices as HHA Care Transition Specialists in 2021 and 2022. For more information, your members may contact Samir Fayyaz at [email protected].
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