SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University Enhances Employee Benefits through Partnership with Plannery
By Office of Communications & Marketing | Jan 10, 2024
Downstate doubles down on employee wellness to improve recruitment and employee retention.
BROOKLYN, NY — SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University is thrilled to announce a partnership with Plannery, a financial wellness platform designed to support healthcare professionals. Plannery’s services include student loan assistance, personal loan assistance, and a soon-to-launch card built to eliminate debt.
This collaboration is designed to prioritize the well-being and holistic health of our dedicated staff, and to combat the financial stress that traditionally inhibits the provision of top-tier care. Healthcare professionals have a unique financial journey, since they start their careers later than most, often carrying significant debt. They work long hours in stressful jobs, which results in 62% of healthcare workers saying they are stressed about finances despite earning good, solid wages. This in turn has negatively affected the healthcare industry’s ability to recruit and retain talent.
What Plannery did:
With three weeks remaining in 2023, employees at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University – who count among the borrowers of federal loans eligible for a one-time account adjustment set to end December 31st – were fraught with financial stress. This impending student loan deadline (which has since been extended to April 2024) meant that Downstate had to act fast.
In under a week, Plannery launched a student loan product designed to help Downstate employees enroll into federal forgiveness programs at scale. Their launch was met with an immediate and incredible response from employees. Plannery was onsite for three days helping Downstate employees around the clock to gain clarity around their student loans, enroll in federal forgiveness, and build confidence that they are on the right path to achieve their financial goals.
David Berger, M.D., MHCM, FACS, CEO of University Hospital at Downstate, expressed enthusiasm about this initiative, “We're excited to bring Plannery to our team. Their rapid product launch, hands-on approach with our staff, and the overwhelming employee engagement truly make Plannery a must-have benefit for our employees.”
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About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn is one of four academic health centers (AMCs) in The State University of New York (SUNY) 64-campus system and the only SUNY AMC in New York City dedicated to health education, research, and patient care for the borough’s 2.7 million residents. Its flagship hospital, University Hospital at Downstate (UHD), is a teaching hospital and benefits from the expertise of Downstate’s exceptional medical school and world-class academic center research facilities. With a staff of over 800 physicians representing 53 specialties and subspecialties, Downstate offers comprehensive healthcare services to the community.
UHD provides high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis for kidney diseases and is the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn. Beyond its clinical expertise, Downstate houses a range of esteemed educational institutions, including its College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, School of Graduate Studies, and School of Public Health. Downstate fosters innovation through its multifaceted biotechnology initiative, the Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT, which support early-stage and more mature biotech companies.
About Plannery
Plannery is a financial wellness platform that is built exclusively for healthcare professionals to support their financial journey from eliminating debt to building wealth. Our vision is a world where no healthcare professional has to worry about their finances and can instead focus on taking care of patients. Plannery works with healthcare organizations to offer their products as an employee benefit to help them with recruitment and retention, and to build a strong, loyal and productive workforce.