Meet the Benefit Funds’ Newest Family Doctor, with Dr. Lela Mayers

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Lela Mayers, the Benefit Funds’ Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO). Dr. Mayers recently joined us to work alongside Chief Medical Officer Dr. Van Dunn in supporting our members’ health journeys. In our conversation, we get to know more about our new DCMO, who began her career as a family medicine physician. Among other things, we learn what she loved about family medicine, why she made the transition to her current role at the Benefit Funds, why it’s so important for healthcare workers to make their own health a priority, what she’s learned from walking in our members’ shoes and what she looked for when she found the perfect doctor for her parents – and what we can all look for, too.

The Takeaway

• Start your health journey by making an appointment with your primary care physician.
• Visit our Healthy Living Resource Center for wellness tips, information and resources; 1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyliving.
• Talk to your doctor about any screenings you may need: 1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthybodies.
• Know your numbers to find out where you stand: 1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyhearts.
• Get inspired by fellow members through our Members’ Voices series: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyliving/membervoices.
• Stop by our Benefits Channel to view 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: youtube.com/@1199SEIUBenefitFunds/playlists
• Sample our wellness classes to exercise body and mind: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/wellnessevents.
• We want to hear from you! Drop us a line at our social media channels: Facebook // Instagram // YouTube

Guest Bio Dr. Lela Mayers is the Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO) of the 1199SEIU Benefit Funds, which provide comprehensive self-insured, self-administered healthcare benefits to more than 450,000 healthcare workers, retirees and their families. As DCMO, Dr. Mayers assists the Chief Medical Officer with the Benefit Funds’ clinical, care management and analytics functions, as well as health and wellness initiatives and value-based strategies.

Prior to joining the Benefit Funds, Dr. Mayers served as Senior Medical Director at CVS Health/Aetna. There she collaborated with the account management teams, pharmacy teams, consulting firms and plan sponsors to drive improved health outcomes for commercial and labor health plan members. Prior to that, she served as Chief of Medicine at Premier Healthcare, where she managed five ambulatory health centers across New York City. Her previous experience with union membership was earned at the Benefit Fund of the New York Hotel Trades, where she was medial director of the Harlem Health Center. Dr. Mayers worked for many years as a primary care physician at the Farrell Health Center of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where she served as faculty and medical director of the resident training program. Dr. Mayers continues to hold a position as voluntary faculty/instructor in clinical medicine at Columbia University’s Center for Family and Community Medicine. She is a licensed physician in New York State and is board certified with the American Board of Family Medicine.

Dr. Mayers received a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University, a Doctor of Medicine from Cornell University Medical College (now Weill Cornell Medical College) and a Master of Public Health from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.