PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Editor's note: The above video is from March 2021 and discusses the harsh realities of working and living in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A dozen nursing homes across Pennsylvania have workers who have voted to go on strike in order to demand "life-saving" changes to the way the facilities are run, according to a press release. Two of these nursing homes are in our coverage area: Rose City Health and Rehab in Lancaster and Gardens at Blue Ridge in Harrisburg.
According to SEIU Healthcare Pa., Pennsylvania's nursing homes are in crisis. They claim that the workforces of these facilities have "been stretched to the breaking point" after decades of understaffing, lack of investment in the workforce, and most notably, the COVID-19 pandemic.
On June 22, the Associated Press reported that deaths among Medicare patients in nursing homes soared by 32% last year, with two devastating spikes eight months apart. That, paired with the 13,000 COVID deaths in Pa. nursing homes—one of the highest rates in the nation, according to data.cms.gov—made nursing home workers in the state feel a strike is necessary.
Liz Empson, an LPN at Blue Ridge in Harrisburg, said that it was a hard decision to make, as "nobody ever wants to go on strike."
Yet, she said, "every day we see our residents suffering. We’ve seen staffing dwindle down to less and less to the point we aren’t able to give residents proper baths every day, or change them out of soiled briefs in a timely manner. We’ve sounded the alarm with employers. We’ve spoken out publicly. We’ve met with legislators. We’ve testified. Still, change isn’t coming. This is our last resort to get the change our residents need.”
Shelley Robinson, a certified nursing assistant at Rose City in Lancaster, echoed Empson's sentiment.
“We need higher wages so we can get more permanent staff in to care for our residents,” she said. “Residents need to know their caregivers and trust us. We just need more help so we can do what’s best for our residents. How can you get permanent staff if they can make more money down the street at a convenience store?”
The 800 workers set to go on strike are currently negotiating separate union contracts along with thousands of other nurses, nurses aides, and other caregivers. Almost all of these people have claimed safe staffing, livable wages, and affordable high-quality healthcare are key priorities to solving this nursing home crisis. These caregivers are saying that designating federal COVID-19 relief funds directly to long-term care facilities would "build the reform the industry needs," as well as "ensure transparency and accountability."
The twelve nursing homes who have issued a 10-day strike notice at any time are:
- Saunders House, Wynnewood
- Powerback, Philadelphia
- Riverside Health and Rehab, Taylor
- The Gardens At East Mountain, Wilkes-Barre
- Oil City Health and Rehab, Oil City
- Summit, Wilkes-Barre
- Rose City Health and Rehab, Lancaster
- Gardens at Blue Ridge, Harrisburg
- Uniontown Health and Rehab, Uniontown
- Beaver Valley Health and Rehab, Beaver
- Beaver Elder Care, Aliquippa
- The Grove at Washington, Washington