NYC Health + Hospitals Launches New Episode of The Remedy, a Podcast from the Largest Safety Net Health Care System in the United States
Season 2 Episode 2: How NYC Care Helps Uninsured New Yorkers covers how the program provides health care to low-income and uninsured New Yorkers—regardless of immigration status or ability to pay The health care system’s role as a public hospital system and a major safety net health care system for New York City offers a singular voice that no other health care podcast can The Remedy is available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio and other platforms
Mar 25, 2025
New York, NY — NYC Health + Hospitals today launched a new episode of its podcast, The Remedy, featuring leaders and health care providers from the nation’s largest municipal health care system. Season 2 Episode 2: How NYC Care Helps Uninsured New Yorkers covers how the program provides health care to low-income and uninsured New Yorkers—regardless of immigration status or ability to pay. Host Dr. Michael Shen speaks with Dr. Jonathan Jiménez, Executive Director of NYC Care, and Maritza Terrones, Health Care Director at La Jornada to discuss how NYC Care started, the importance of outreach through trusted community groups like La Jornada, and the program’s incredible outcomes after five years, including improvements for New Yorkers with diabetes and hypertension. Terrones also shares her personal story as both an NYC Care member and advocate. Season 2 of the podcast will include seven episodes, focusing on frontline workers that often provide care outside the walls of public hospitals and health centers, with a new episode released every two weeks. Season 2 Episode 2: How NYC Care Helps Uninsured New Yorkers is available now at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio and other podcast platforms.
“As a doctor in Brooklyn, I can’t imagine how I could deliver the care that I do without NYC Care,” said The Remedy Host Michael Shen. “They are setting the standard for providing care for people who are not eligible for health insurance, and their new benefit to offer durable medical equipment like canes and walkers has already been useful for my patients.”
“NYC Care was launched because we recognized that hundreds of thousands of people unable to access health care was a grave injustice,” said NYC Care Executive Director Jonathan Jiménez, MD, MPH. “Today, we have over 140,000 active members and who have completed over one million primary care appointments. As the child of Colombian immigrants who was born at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, I feel privileged to do this work and care for patients that feel like my family. If you or someone you know may be eligible for the program, please visit NYCCare.NYC or call 646-692-2273 and seek care without fear.”
“Since 2023, La Jornada has enrolled over 400 people into NYC Care and connected with over 2,700 members of the community,” said Maritza Terrones, Health Care Director of La Jornada. “I’m also an NYC Care member. I had a high-risk pregnancy and NYC Care gave me the coverage to treat all of my health issues.”
The health care system’s role as a public hospital system and the major safety net health care system for New York City offers a singular voice that no other health care podcast can. It shows how NYC Health + Hospitals provides care for all patients, regardless of their ability to pay; offers exciting ways to support patients, including dance and music therapy and support navigating benefits; and responds to the challenges that face New York City, including homelessness, gun violence, and the asylum seeker crisis. The host and guests are all health care system employees with a special perspective on the work they do for patients.
Previous episodes of The Remedy covers the following topics:
Season 2
- Season 2 Episode 1: Community Health Workers covers these workers’ vital role in bridging the gap between medical care and social needs like housing, food, and transportation. With over 250 community health workers, NYC Health + Hospitals has built one of the largest programs in the nation. Host Dr. Michael Shen sits down with Natasha McIntosh-Whyte, a Community Health Worker Supervisor, and Nkrumah Powell, a Community Health Worker, to discuss how they help patients navigate a complex system.
Season 1
- Season 1 Episode 1: The Power of Primary Care features three primary care doctors on how working with their patients informs their roles in leadership at NYC Health + Hospitals. The episode features Dr. Mitchell Katz, President and Chief Executive Officer of NYC Health + Hospitals and a primary care physician at NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur; Dr. Andrew Wallach, Ambulatory Care Chief Medical Officer of NYC Health + Hospitals and Chief of Ambulatory Care at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue; and Dr. Michelle Soto, then-Chief of Ambulatory Care at NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health.
- Season 1 Episode 2: Food is Medicine recognizes that plant-based eating is powerful medicine – it can lower high blood pressure and bring type 2 diabetes into remission – and considers how hospitals can help their patients pursue a plant-based diet. The episode features Dr. Michelle McMacken, Executive Director of Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine, and the health care system’s Executive Chef Phil DeMaiolo.
- Season 1 Episode 3: Ready for the Next Pandemic considers how New York City’s public hospital system has consistently answered the challenge of Ebola, COVID-19, and Mpox all while staying ahead of the latest health crisis. The episode features Dr. Syra Madad, then the Senior Director of System-Wide Special Pathogens Program and now the system’s Chief Biopreparedness Officer, and Dr. Richard James Salway, then-Senior Director of Emergency Management.
- Season 1 Episode 4: Women’s Health considers how New York City’s public hospital system is expanding access to women’s health care in a time when many women across the country are facing restricted access to care. The episode features Dr. Marisa Nadas, Reproductive Health Clinical Lead, and Dr. Wendy Wilcox, Chief Women’s Health Officer. Together, they discuss how NYC Health + Hospitals is expanding telehealth and in-person reproductive health services for everyone who needs them.
- Season 1 Episode 5: Caring for the Newest New Yorkers covers how the staff at NYC Health + Hospitals are rising to the challenge of caring for the over 175,000 asylum seekers who have come to our city since spring 2022. Host Dr. Michael Shen is joined by Dr. Ted Long, Senior Vice President of Ambulatory Care and Population Health, and Dr. Natalie Davis, Associate Medical Director of Ambulatory Women’s Health Services at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, to discuss NYC Health + Hospitals’ humanitarian centers, providing access to healthcare for asylum seekers, helping migrants deal with trauma they’ve experienced on their journeys, and much more.
- Season 1 Episode 6: Caring for Homeless Patients covers how NYC Health + Hospitals serves its over 70,000 patients who are experiencing homelessness. Host Dr. Michael Shen is joined by Dr. Amanda Johnson, Assistant Vice President of Ambulatory Care and Population Health at NYC Health + Hospitals, and Leora Jontef, Assistant Vice President of Housing and Real Estate at NYC Health + Hospitals, to delve into New York City’s housing crisis, explain how safety net clinics and mobile vans are providing care to patients experiencing homelessness, and why New York City’s public health care system now has a path connecting hundreds of patients to their own homes.
- Season 1 Episode 7: Helping Healers Heal covershow NYC Health + Hospitals supports the mental health of its more than 40,000 health care workers. Host Dr. Michael Shen is joined by Dr. Eric Wei, Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals, and Jeremy Segall, the System Chief Wellness Officer, to delve into how the pressures of a healthcare job can often lead to stress, burnout, and depression, addressing the stigma around mental health, the system’s Helping Healers Heal program, using the arts to de-stress, and more.
About the Host
Michael S. Shen, MD is a primary care doctor at NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull and the Medical Director of Woodhull Hospital’s Adult Primary Care and Geriatrics clinics. Dr. Shen was previously a Health Affairs Podcast Fellow where he created a 3-episode series about safety net hospitals. He is also an artist who works in watercolor, acrylic, mixed media, and digital media. His illustrative work has been published by National Geographic Books, the American Medical Association’s Journal of Ethics, and the Annals of Internal Medicine. Find him on Twitter @MikeShenMD.
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MEDIA CONTACT: PressOffice@nychhc.org
About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 43,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
About NYC Care
NYC Care is a health care access program that provides comprehensive and low or no-cost healthcare services through NYC Health + Hospitals for New Yorkers who cannot afford or are ineligible for health insurance. NYC Care provides a membership card, 24/7 customer service, access to comprehensive and affordable healthcare services, like primary care, mental health services, and sexual and reproductive healthcare, low-cost medications, and member materials in multiple languages – regardless of your immigration status or ability to pay. Call 646-NYC-CARE (646-692-2273) or visit NYCCare.NYC to learn more and sign up today – privacy and confidentiality guaranteed.
