Healthcare Management Program Interns Take On NYC

At Northwell Health it’s not a normal 9-5, so that’s why we gave our 26 Healthcare Management Program (HMP) interns an opportunity to take a break from their day-to-day work and projects, and experience New York City through an educational experience with a team building and critical thinking twist.

First, they started at City Hall with a tour exploring New York City’s culture since over 50% of our HMP interns live outside New York State. What better way to experience that than starting from the beginning with George Washington?

After the tour, they sat down with Deborah Brown, Chief Health Strategy and Innovation Officer for the NYC Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services to talk about the ever-changing landscape of health care and how the government is helping to cultivate plans for value-based care and population health, insurance reimbursement and more. Ms. Brown also shared her career journey in law that led to her current role in the governor’s office and opened the floor for a Q&A session with the interns.

With a quick trip on the subway, our interns went to Lenox Health Greenwich Village (LHGV), Northwell Health’s free-standing emergency department, which is a division of Lenox Hill Hospital. Receiving a personalized tour from Alex Hellinger, Executive Director at LHGV, the interns were provided an overview of the history of health care delivery in this community and the successes and challenges faced by Northwell Health over the last several years. They also were given a preview of the new operating room suites and physician offices currently being built at the site.

Last activity of the day, a surprise scavenger hunt in Greenwich Village park. Each team had to find a way to take unique pictures working together, thinking creatively, how to solve the tasks at hand. From getting a tattoo (not a real one.. or maybe?), treating someone in uniform with respect to somehow doubling your team size, the teams put their heads together to solve the mission at hand. The scavenger hunt reinforced Northwell Health’s company values of Truly Compassionate, Truly Innovative, Truly Ambitious, Truly Together and Truly Ourselves. One team came out victorious, receiving the most points for their creative pictures and earned gold medals for their triumph.

Although this was a fun day, these 26 individuals are hard at work at over 12 hospitals and service lines, taking on projects like reviewing financials for new hospital units, determining the most effective way to reduce readmission rates in population health, researching new tools in telehealth to implement, preparing for our annual philanthropy Foundation concert and more. The day after their teambuilding session, they were back to work where some of the HMP interns had the opportunity to take a selfie with our President and CEO, Michael J. Dowling during a session with Senator Elaine Phillips where she thanked thank our nurses for all they do in delivering care and to present Maureen White, chief nursing executive, with a state proclamation.

Does this sound like something you’re made for? Learn more and sign up for notifications about next summer’s program here.