NY Hospitality and Healthcare Industries Help Families Fight Pediatric Cancer

Industry leaders from the world’s of healthcare and hospitality have joined forces to help children and their families fight against pediatric cancer, as part of Ronald McDonald House New York’s (RMH-NY) healthcare and hospitality councils.

Comprising a senior-level group of advisors, RMH-NY’s healthcare and hospitality councils provide unique expertise to the organization and continually advise on its core initiatives, including pediatric cancer treatment protocols, the patient and guest experience, healthcare hospitality, amenities and services at the House, and more. The councils have also been front and center throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, working with RMH-NY’s senior leadership to execute strategies to continue helping families in the fight against cancer amid the global crisis.

“From providing critical care and support to families as children receive life-saving cancer treatment, to offering housing, meals and various amenities for all guests, Ronald McDonald House New York is truly at the nexus of healthcare and hospitality,” said Ruth C. Browne, president/CEO of RMH-NY. “Our healthcare and hospitality councils have been instrumental in innovating our initiatives, advancing our mission as a leader in these industries and ensuring that we can continue serving families throughout the COVID-19 crisis. This is an outstanding group of individuals that devote their time and resources to fighting against pediatric cancer, and we are so grateful for their unwavering commitment to Ronald McDonald House New York.”

RMH-NY’s hospitality council advises on guestrooms, services and amenities, and contributes to RMH-NY’s programming by utilizing their services to develop customized initiatives for patients and their families:

• Avvio President Rich Tuckwell-Skuda supported the launch of a multifaceted five-year partnership with the company that provided RMH-NY with its artificial intelligence-powered booking engine platform. This complimentary service provided families, hospital staff and care providers with the ability to seamlessly serve rooms at the House.
• Brooke Hollis, executive director at Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures and associate director at Sloan Program in Health Administration, brings teams of graduate Cornell University students as senior consultants to support the House. The group completed several studies for RMH-NY, including a patient and family experience assessment, employee experience and operations review, patient transportation study, hospital partnership analysis and most recently, a COVID-19 case study & business model impact that will be co-published by Cornell University and RMH-NY.

Members of RMH-NY’s hospitality council include: Wendy Bosalavage, president, LIVunLtd; Vijay Dandapani, president/CEO, Hotel Association of New York City; Dina Ferreira-Dunn, manager, B2B marketing, American Airlines, Mastercard; Brooke Hollis, executive director, Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures, associate director Sloan Program in Health Administration; Heather Kolakowski, lecturer, food and beverage management, hunger, health and nonprofit social enterprise, Cornell University; Brian Povinelli, Marriott SVP, brand leader for Westin, LeMeridian, Renaissance, Autograph, Tribute and Design; Tracy Pulito, assistant general counsel, privacy, InterPublic Group; Rich Tuckwell-Skuda, president, Avvio, North America; Brian Scanlon, VP & senior counsel, Intellectual Property, Marriott International Inc.; Dr. Mary Tabacchi, professor at Cornell University specializing in wellness, with a Ph.D. in biochemical nutrition, biostatistics, author and researcher; Melissa Walker, senior director, Hilton Global Brand Wellness; and Elizabeth Weiner, advisory board of CIHF, leading independent art curator for international hotels and healthcare facilities.

Ronald McDonald House New York provides temporary housing, care and support for pediatric cancer patients and their families in a strong, supportive and caring environment that keeps families close to each other and the treatment their children need. Located on East 73rd St. in New York, RMH-NY serves families throughout all five boroughs of New York City, in addition to families across every state in the U.S. and around the world.

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