Healthy Now, Healthy Later, with Dr. Lela Mayers

Happy New Year, and welcome to Season Three of Health Is the Key. With the holidays behind us, we turn our focus to the year ahead of us – a perfect time to re-commit to our health. And what better way to introduce our new Healthy Now, Healthy Later campaign than to have the Benefit Funds’ Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lela Mayers as our first guest in 2026! Dr. Mayers explains how preventive care can lower your risk of illness, improve your quality of life and help ensure long-term wellness. She also explores with us all the resources available to you to support you wherever you are on your health journey.

The Takeaway

• We want to hear from you! Please complete our survey: org/member-feedback.
• Drop us a line at our social media channels: Facebook// Instagram // YouTube.
• Start – or renew! – your health journey by making an appointment with your primary care physician. Visit our Provider Directory at 1199SEIUBenefits.org/find-a-provider.
• Know your numbers to find out where you stand: 1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyhearts.
• 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.
• Connect with a primary care doctor or a therapist online through Teladoc: Teladoc.com or (800) TELADOC (835-2362).
• Need support managing your diabetes, hypertension or weight? Find the program that’s right for you: 1199SEIUBenefits.org/the-choice-is-yours/
• Find a mental health therapist through the Benefit Funds’ Provider Directory: 1199SEIUBenefits.org/find-a-provider.
• For additional support, call our Wellness Member Assistance Program: (646) 473-6900.
• Contact our partners at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for a wide variety of community resources: naminycmetro.org.
• 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.

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 and care management strategies, as well as health and wellness initiatives.

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 medical 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.