Health Is the Key

In this month’s episode, Dr. Hugo Ortega joins us as we take a look at lifestyle medicine – a fresh approach to healthcare that more and more physicians are embracing. Dr. Ortega, an associate program director for the Montefiore Einstein Internal Medicine Residency Program in the Bronx, shares his personal story of how he became interested in lifestyle medicine and how it informs the way he treats his patients and teaches his residents. He outlines the six basic pillars of lifestyle medicine and explains how paying attention to each can help get to the root causes of poor health and help us live our best lives. 
Keep the conversation going and tag us or comment on our Facebook or Instagram pages with your thoughts and questions.  
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The Takeaway 
Get started on your health journey by making an appointment with your primary care physician. Don’t have one? Find one at our Provider Directory: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/find-a-provider.   
Learn more about lifestyle medicine by visiting the American College of Lifestyle Medicine website: www.LifestyleMedicine.org. 
Get the basics on whole-food, plant-based nutrition at www.PlantPoweredMetroNY.org. 
Visit the Healthy Living Resource Center for wellness tips, information and resources; www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyliving. 
Get to know your numbers at www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyhearts 
Join WeightWatchers at a discounted rate of just $8 a month; $0 if you are living with diabetes or prediabetes: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/ww. 
If you are living with type 2 diabetes, find out more about our partner Virta’s diabetes reversal program: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/news/virta.  
Get inspired by fellow members through our Members’ Voices series: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyliving/membervoices.  
Stop by our Benefits Channel to join webinars on managing stress, building healthy meals and more: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/videos. 
Visit our  YouTube channel to view a wide collection of healthy living videos: www.youtube.com/@1199SEIUBenefitFunds/playlists 
Sample our wellness classes to exercise body and mind: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/wellnessevents. 
Guest Bio 
Dr. Hugo Ortega is an associate program director for the Montefiore Einstein Internal Medicine Residency Program in the Bronx and served on the American College of Lifestyle Medicine Board of Directors as Young Director. The college also awarded him the Health Equity Achieved Through Lifestyle Medicine (HEAL) Initiative Scholarship, which aims to support a diverse healthcare workforce. With a passion for medical education and a master’s degree in health professions education, Dr. Ortega completed his residency in primary care and social internal medicine and has developed an expertise in lifestyle medicine. Believing education to be the cornerstone of changing the current landscape of healthcare, Dr. Ortega says teaching students and residents to be aware of the complex social systems that determine health allow for better adaptation to the system while also fighting to change it. Experienced in development, implementation and evaluation of undergraduate/graduate medical education curriculum, Dr. Ortega has also developed administrative and leadership skills during the creation and directing of the lifestyle medicine programs at Northwell Health. Dr. Ortega believes strongly in giving back to the community via education and mentorship, empowering people to take charge of their health and influence others. 

In this month’s episode, Dr. Hugo Ortega joins us as we take a look at lifestyle medicine – a fresh approach to healthcare that more and more physicians are embracing. Dr. Ortega, an associate program director for the Montefiore Einstein Internal Medicine Residency Program in the Bronx, shares his personal story of how he became interested in lifestyle medicine and how it informs the way he treats his patients and teaches his residents. He outlines the six basic pillars of lifestyle medicine and explains how paying attention to each can help get to the root causes of poor health and help us live our best lives. 
 
The Takeaway 
Get started on your health journey by making an appointment with your primary care physician. Don’t have one? Find one at our Provider Directory: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/find-a-provider.   
Learn more about lifestyle medicine by visiting the American College of Lifestyle Medicine website: www.LifestyleMedicine.org. 
Get the basics on whole-food, plant-based nutrition at www.PlantPoweredMetroNY.org. 
Visit the Healthy Living Resource Center for wellness tips, information and resources; www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyliving. 
Get to know your numbers at www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyhearts 
Join WeightWatchers at a discounted rate of just $8 a month; $0 if you are living with diabetes or prediabetes: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/ww. 
If you are living with type 2 diabetes, find out more about our partner Virta’s diabetes reversal program: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/news/virta.  
Get inspired by fellow members through our Members’ Voices series: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyliving/membervoices.  
Stop by our Benefits Channel to join webinars on managing stress, building healthy meals and more: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/videos. 
Visit our  YouTube channel to view a wide collection of healthy living videos: www.youtube.com/@1199SEIUBenefitFunds/playlists 
Sample our wellness classes to exercise body and mind: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/wellnessevents. 
 
Guest Bio 
Dr. Hugo Ortega is an associate program director for the Montefiore Einstein Internal Medicine Residency Program in the Bronx and served on the American College of Lifestyle Medicine Board of Directors as Young Director. The college also awarded him the Health Equity Achieved Through Lifestyle Medicine (HEAL) Initiative Scholarship, which aims to support a diverse healthcare workforce. With a passion for medical education and a master’s degree in health professions education, Dr. Ortega completed his residency in primary care and social internal medicine and has developed an expertise in lifestyle medicine. Believing education to be the cornerstone of changing the current landscape of healthcare, Dr. Ortega says teaching students and residents to be aware of the complex social systems that determine health allow for better adaptation to the system while also fighting to change it. Experienced in development, implementation and evaluation of undergraduate/graduate medical education curriculum, Dr. Ortega has also developed administrative and leadership skills during the creation and directing of the lifestyle medicine programs at Northwell Health. Dr. Ortega believes strongly in giving back to the community via education and mentorship, empowering people to take charge of their health and influence others. 

In this episode, the Benefit Funds’ Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Van H. Dunn, discusses the importance of building a healthy relationship with a primary care provider. Putting the emphasis on prevention – catching small problems before they become big ones – Dr. Dunn details the ways in which healthcare providers treat the whole person. He also explores the reasons why many people avoid seeing a provider regularly (and how to overcome them) and offers tips on what to look for in a provider – and what to avoid. 
The Takeaway 
Find a provider by browsing the Benefit Funds’ Provider Directory: www.1199seiubenefits.org/find-a-provider/.  
Visit our Healthy Living Resource Center for info on how to build a solid relationship with your healthcare provider: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyrelationships. 
Talk to your doctor about any screenings you may need: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthybodies.  
Know your numbers to know where you stand: www.1199seiubenefits.org/healthyhearts/
For additional support, call our Wellness Member Assistance Program: (646) 473-6900. 
 
Guest Bio 
Van H. Dunn, MD, MPH, FACP, is the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the 1199SEIU Benefit Funds. As CMO, he oversees the Funds’ clinical, care management and analytics functions, and is responsible for pursuing health and wellness initiatives and value-based strategies. Prior to joining the Funds, Dr. Dunn served as Senior Vice President for Medical and Professional Affairs and CMO at NYC Health + Hospitals, and as CMO for MetroPlus Health Plan. He also served as Deputy Commissioner at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and as Senior Health Policy Advisor to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, advancing policy and legislation relating to healthcare reform, health promotion, disease prevention, women’s and minorities’ health, disparities in healthcare and biomedical research, among other critical initiatives.  
Dr. Dunn holds a Bachelor of Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Doctor of Medicine from Cornell University Medical College (now Weill Cornell Medical College) and a Master of Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health (now the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health). 

In this month’s episode, we talk heart health with Dr. Gbenga Ogedegbe, renowned cardiologist and founding director of the Institute for Excellence in Health Equity at NYU Langone Health. Dr. Ogedegbe provides an overview of how exactly the heart works and shares the good news and the not-so-good news about heart disease. He reviews the target numbers we should all aim for and offers simple steps we can take to keep our hearts in good working order. And because stress is a major risk factor for heart disease, Dr. Ogedegbe shares some of his own stress-busting strategies he practices daily. 
  
The Takeaway 
Find out where you stand heart-wise by making an appointment with your primary care physician. Don’t have one? Find one at our Provider Directory: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/find-a-provider.   
Visit the Healthy Living Resource Center for wellness tips, information and resources; www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyliving. 
Get to know your numbers at www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyhearts.   
Join WeightWatchers at a discounted rate of just $8 a month; $0 if you are living with diabetes or prediabetes: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/ww. 
If you are living with type 2 diabetes, find out more about our partner Virta’s diabetes reversal program: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/news/virta.  
Get inspired by fellow members through our new Members’ Voices series: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyliving/membervoices.  
Stop by our Benefits Channel to join webinars on managing stress, building healthy meals and more: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/videos. 
Visit our  YouTube channel to view a wide collection of healthy living videos: www.youtube.com/@1199SEIUBenefitFunds/playlists. 
Sample our wellness classes to exercise body and mind: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/wellnessevents. 
  
Guest Bio 
Gbenga Ogedegbe, MD, MPH is the inaugural and founding director of the Institute for Excellence in Health Equity (IEHE) at NYU Langone Health. He is the Dr. Adolph & Margaret Berger Professor of Medicine and Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He is a leading NIH-funded scientist in health equity research. He has led numerous NIH-funded studies for cardiovascular disease risk reduction with a focus on developing and evaluating clinic-community linkage models of care to address inequities in health outcomes.  
Dr. Ogedegbe is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the United States Prevention Services Task Force (USPSTF). He is a Fellow of many scientific organizations including the American Heart Association, American College of Physicians and the Academy of Behavioral Medicine.  
After obtaining his MD degree in Ukraine, Dr. Ogedegbe completed his residency in internal medicine at Montefiore Medical Center, followed by a fellowship training in Health Services Research and Clinical Epidemiology at Cornell University, during which received his MPH from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Prior to his current position, he was a faculty member at both Cornell Weill Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. 

Podcast Notes 
Today we talk burnout with Dr. Karinn Glover, an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Glover helps us examine what has become a burnout crisis among healthcare workers – and shares insights that can help prevent burnout or fight back if it already has a grip on you. She offers tips and strategies for getting the support you need, from DIY remedies like self-care to professional care and how to find it. Dr. Glover also runs down some outside influences that can contribute to burnout and what you can do to overcome them. 
The Takeaway  
Find a mental health therapist through the Benefit Funds’ Provider Directory: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/find-a-provider. 
Connect with a therapist online through Teladoc: www.Teladoc.com  or (800) TELADOC (835-2362). 
Visit the Healthy Minds section of our Healthy Living Resource Center for additional information and resources: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyminds/  
For additional support, call our Wellness Member Assistance Program: (646) 473-6900. 
Contact our partners at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for a wide variety of community resources: www.naminycmetro.org. 
Reach out to the New York State Office of Mental Health Emotional Support Helpline at (844) 863-9314. 
Guest Bio 
Karinn Glover, MD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where she teaches psychopharmacology and aspects of psychotherapy to Psychiatry and Family Medicine residents. Her decade-plus experience as a psychiatrist and leader in the primary care division at Montefiore Health System has informed her approach to health equity, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEI+B), and the styles of leadership that produce organizational success. Dr. Glover attended SUNY Downstate College of Medicine and obtained a Master of Public Health from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health via the highly competitive Macy Scholars Program.

Podcast Notes 
In this episode, Angelica McQuade, a WeightWatchers coach dedicated to 1199SEIU members, talks about what sets WeightWatchers apart from typical diets. From community support through in-person and online workshops to the fact that no foods are forbidden, Angelica discusses how the program is successful at helping those who join achieve significant, lasting results. She also shares how she got started on her personal wellness journey and why she continues to live the WeightWatchers lifestyle every day.  
The Takeaway 
Go to the WeightWatchers page, where you and your eligible dependents can join at a deeply discounted price—or 0$ for those who qualify: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/ww 
Already a WW member? Join the 1199ers group on the WW app.  
If you have questions, call WW at (866) 204-2885.  
For the schedule of workshops (in-person or online), visit www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/ww-events. 
Visit the Healthy Living Resource Center for wellness tips and resources: www.1199Benefits.org/HealthyLiving. 
For more support, call our Wellness Member Assistance Program at (646) 473-6900. 
Try one – or more! – of our online exercise classes at www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/wellness-events. 
Take advantage of a discounted gym membership through the Benefit Fund: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/gym-discounts  
Guest Bio Angelica McQuade is a National Virtual Coach at Weight Watchers International, as well as a fitness trainer certified through several organizations, including Les Mills International and AFFA-Athletics and Fitness Association of America™. Angelica’s Instagram presence (angelica_real.life.wellness)  captures her philosophy with respect to weight health: Actions that lead to feelings of deprivation, guilt or worthlessness have no place in a sustainable healthy lifestyle.Angelica earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer information Systems/Psychology from Manhattan College and a Master’s degree in Telecommunications Management from Polytechnic University. In addition to spending time with her husband and two adult children, Angelica enjoys listening to podcasts, dancing, cruising and hosting large family gatherings. 

In today’s episode, the Benefit Funds’ Executive Director and CEO of Funds Administrative Operations, Dr. Donna Rey, explains the inspiration behind our Healthy Living initiative to support 1199SEIU members. Dr. Rey also outlines the many programs and services designed to meet members wherever they are on their personal health journeys. She even shares the “WHY” behind her own health journey – and asks members to connect with her about theirs.
The Takeaway
Visit the Health Living Resource Center for wellness tips, information and resources; 1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyliving
Join WeightWatchers at a discounted rate of just $8 a month; $0 if you are living with diabetes or prediabetes: 1199SEIUBenefits.org/ww
Stop by our Benefits Channel to view videos on managing stress, building healthy meals and more: 1199SEIUBenefits.org/videos
Get inspired by fellow members through our new Members' Voices series: 1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyliving/membervoices.
If you are living with type 2 diabetes, find out more about our partner Virta’s diabetes reversal program: 1199SEIUBenefits.org/news/virta
Want to share your story? Just visit 1199SEIUBenefits.org/tell-us-why.
Sample our wellness classes to exercise body and mind: 1199SEIUBenefits.org/wellness-events
Access free or reduced-cost community resources for assistance with issues like food insecurity, housing, child care and others through our partners at findhelp: findhelp.1199SEIUBenefits.org 
For added support, call our Wellness Member Assistance Program at (646) 473-6900.
Dr. Rey wants to hear from you! Email her at DrD@1199Funds.org.
Guest Bio
Donna Rey, EdD, is the Executive Director of the 1199SEIU Benefit and Pension Funds and CEO of Funds Administrative Operations. As Executive Director, Dr. Rey brings extensive leadership experience, including more than 30 years of implementing organizational change and more than 15 years as an executive at the Funds. In 2022, she launched the Healthy Living initiative to support 1199SEIU members in achieving better health outcomes through innovative partnerships and lifestyle programs that empower members.
Prior to her role as Executive Director and CEO, Dr. Rey was Associate Executive Director of the Funds, responsible for the operations of the Benefit and Pension Funds, as well as joint administrative services for the Training and Employment and Child Care Funds.
Before joining the Funds in 2006, Dr. Rey served in the non-profit sector, implementing change in such organizations as Columbia University, the New York City Department of Education and the New York City Department of Finance.
Dr. Rey received a Bachelor of Science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, a Master of Science from the W. Averell Harriman School for Management and Public Policy and a Doctorate in Education from Columbia University.

In our introductory episode, host Elizabeth Moore offers a preview of how Health Is the Key will help support 1199SEIU members on their health journey. Calling on health experts, Benefit Fund leaders and our own healthcare heroes, Health Is the Key is designed to meet members wherever they are on their own health journey.