The Glimmerglass Festival is thrilled to unveil an unprecedented partnership with Glimmerglass Medical & Wellness, LLC., a local provider of institutional health and wellness programming and concierge primary care services. This collaboration pioneers a unique, comprehensive health and wellness program tailored for opera and theater professionals. The program is a model for the opera and theater industry, addressing the healthcare disparities and lack of access to health insurance that industry professionals with atypical schedules and inconsistent employment often face.
The innovative program features an onsite infirmary staffed by Glimmerglass Medical & Wellness practitioners. With regular weekly hours at the Glimmerglass Festival campus, the infirmary ensures easy access to healthcare services for Glimmerglass staff, Apprentices, and performers. The infirmary offers first aid, triage of illness, acute care escalation, and identification of episodic needs that a primary care provider should address, all at no cost to Glimmerglass employees. The program also includes a weekly primary care “Opera Doc” clinic led by Dr. Jeffrey Bailey, DNP/FNP-BC, founder of Glimmerglass Medical & Wellness, LLC. Services at the “Opera Doc” clinic are offered for a copay in partnership with the Bassett Healthcare Network at the Richfield Springs Clinic, further enhancing accessibility. Paired with these medical supports are weekly fitness classes, including yoga and stretching, held at the Glimmerglass campus and Herkimer College, where Glimmerglass Young Artists reside during the Festival’s summer season.
Going beyond direct healthcare benefits, the program encompasses an educational component. This includes a seminar series and weekly newsletter covering a wide range of topics, such as sleep hygiene, healthy eating, summer colds, and other wellness topics. These topics aim to enhance the overall health and well-being of the professionals brought to the region each summer as part of the Festival. The new Glimmerglass Festival Medical and Wellness Program, with all services provided at low to no cost, was made possible by the generous sponsorship of Beth and Gary Glynn, ensuring the highest standard of health and wellness support is available to all Glimmerglass professionals.
“For nearly five decades, Glimmerglass has been the driving force behind the American opera and theater scene, nurturing performers, musicians, and artisans who have risen to prominence in the industry. With this new partnership with Glimmerglass Medical & Wellness, we are taking the next step in this long history, offering holistic support to the professionals who make each season’s magic possible,” shared Glimmerglass Executive Director Andrea Lyons.
The program was informally piloted during the 2023 Glimmerglass season. Dr. Bailey, in partnership with the Festival’s safety department, provided invaluable medical support and consultation for staff and performers, showcasing the power of collaboration in creating a healthier and more vibrant working environment. Dr. Bailey will serve as Director of the new Glimmerglass Festival Medical and Wellness Program.
Currently a primary care provider at the Hamilton College Johnson Center for Health and Wellness, Dr. Bailey holds a bachelor’s degree in evolutionary biology of the human species, a master’s degree in nursing, a master’s degree in oncology, and a clinical doctorate in nursing practice as a Family Nurse Practitioner, all from Columbia University. He is also a performing arts professional with over 30 years of experience working as a dancer, choreographer, and director on multiple national and international tours of Broadway musicals, Hollywood feature films, music videos, and episodic and commercial television, bringing to his practice an intimate knowledge of the unique health challenges facing performers and theater professionals.
“This new program is groundbreaking. We are introducing health and wellness benefits to Glimmerglass employees that surpass many institutional wellness programs available at Fortune 500 companies,” said Dr. Bailey. “Partnering with Glimmerglass to provide this program has been about giving back to my local community by supporting an organization that brings so much beauty and joy to our region. It is also about giving back to the performing arts community where I began my professional life. I hope we can make the world a little better for the people in both communities.”
With the success of the 2023 season collaboration, the Festival engaged the services of Dr. Bailey through his newly established institutional health and wellness business, Glimmerglass Medical & Wellness, LLC., to tailor a comprehensive wellness program with a straightforward mission: people leaving Glimmerglass feeling better than they did upon arriving at the Festival. From this mission stems several goals that benefit both the professionals the Festival employs and the Festival itself. These goals include providing continuity of care to a group of people with limited access to consistent and affordable healthcare, meeting the needs of individuals where they are rather than imposing healthcare goals, and providing resources to empower people to make healthy choices. The program will also reduce absenteeism and productivity loss due to lack of access to appropriate medical care, reduce emergency room visits, thereby reducing stress on the local healthcare system, and support the local economy with partnerships with local practitioners and businesses.
The new Glimmerglass Festival Medical and Wellness Program will launch this month with the first seminar in its educational series, a class about navigating state health insurance marketplaces while working within the gig economy. For more information about the Glimmerglass Festival, email info@glimmerglass.org. For more information about Glimmerglass Medical & Wellness, LLC., visit https://www.gmwcare.com/.