Restaurant Worker Health Care Cooperative
The Restaurant Worker Health Care Cooperative (RWHCC) provides uninsured restaurant workers with timely, direct access to basic medical care at a low, reasonable cost.
RWHCC for Restaurant Owners
Most restaurant workers have little or no access to a medical doctor. This is nobody's fault and everyone's fault in the United States. Until we have rational national health care for all people, we have a problem. Right now. Today.
After decades of providing affordable health care for many years to restaurant workers as a general practitioner on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Dr Dave Ores realized that this sort of care and access could be organized for very little money in a very big way: if a bunch of restaurants chip in a small amount of money each every month to a common fund, then ALL the uninsured workers at those places can see a doctor if they need to, at no charge to the workers.
The Restaurant Worker Health Care Cooperative common fund pays your doctor a few dollars for every worker seen—maybe $80.00 or $60.00? The fee depends on the time and energy needed for any given worker, and money is not removed from the fund unless a doctor sees a worker. No shareholders, no profits—that's why it costs so little and makes so much sense.
As a restaurant owner, why should I join RWHCC for my workers?
RWHCC gives ALL your workers free, timely, and direct access to a doctor.
RWHCC helps to catch and treat illnesses early in the disease process, so your workers will be less sick and for fewer days. It's easier and cheaper to treat them early, plus they won't be coughing on their co-workers and your food. Fewer sick days/missed work days occur. That's good for everyone.
We do not report ANY person to ANY agency regarding status of any sort. Ever. 100% privacy. %100 confidential.
RWHCC provides a portal to offer vaccinations to all your workers for flu and hepatitis. Again: less sick days needed every year, and protects co-workers and customers.
RWHCC often keeps your workers out of the ER. We can save you many wasted hours, and potentially thousands of dollars of unnecessary hospital bills. Of course, hospital care is needed on occasion, but most times it isn't—especially if we get to see your workers earlier, before they get critically sick.
The red circular RWHCC sticker on your window builds good will with your workers as well as your customers. You are providing free health care to your workers AND your food safety is all the better for it.
Your restaurant will be listed on our RWHCC website and benefit from any local or national press we receive as a caring member of the community.
How do I sign my restaurant up for RWHCC?
Please send us your information through our contact form— we promise to get in touch with you as soon as possible to get the process started!
(Note that we currently only serve restaurants in New York City and Philadelphia, but are actively looking for physicians and restaurants in other cities. If you know anyone who might be interested in joining RWHCC, please send them our way or let us know how we can get in touch with them!)
Why Chefs and Owners Love Us
As chef and owner of wd-50, I joined RWHCC as a founding member in 2007 because I wanted all my staff and workers to have access to a doctor. They need and deserve something more than the emergency room for their basic care. If any medical situation arises, all my workers can be seen by a RWHCC doctor on the same day.