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Beaver County nursing home workers rally Tuesday for staffing, wages and protections for residents

Beaver County Times - 5/26/2021

May 26—SOUTH BEAVER TWP. — Rose Conforti has been an employee at the Beaver Valley Healthcare and Rehab Center for 34 years.

With over three decades under her belt at the center, currently working as a dietary aide, she said the facility is almost unrecognizable since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which resulted in 13,258 deaths of long-term care facility residents statewide since March of last year. In Beaver County, 1,111 long-term care facility residents have tested positive for COVID-19 along with at least 274 staff members. Of those residents, 223 have died from the virus.

Conforti is not alone in her frustration. She, along with many others at nursing homes across the state, sparked a protest at 41 nursing facilities statewide on Tuesday, demanding better staffing, increased wages and protections for residents.

Staff members are overworked and underpaid, Conforti of South Beaver Township said, and nursing home residents feel the brunt of it.

"There's not enough workers, not enough people on the floor," she said. "We're rushing from here to there."

Most caregivers feed, bathe, clothe and toilet nursing home residents each day. According to Shirley Peoples, a certified nurse assistant with the center, sometimes more than 20 residents are on a floor with only one or two staff members to give care.

The facility is currently filled with residents, Peoples said, which leaves only a few beds open and not nearly enough employees to handle the load.

"Some days there is one person to a hall with as many as 22 (residents)," said Peoples of Darlington. "You're ready to pull your hair out some days."

Many during Tuesday's protest held signs that read "better staffing," illustrating the need for more staff members. But some employees said the number of unemployed people across the state is actually making it difficult to get more folks hired.

As of March 2021, 461,514 Pennsylvanians were unemployed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unemployment is significantly less than this time last year, however. In May 2020, 862,639 people were unemployed in the state, a decrease of nearly half.

"When so many people are unemployed right now, this would be a good opportunity to get a job. But Biden is giving the big unemployment check, so why should they come to work?" said Shanon Givens, a temporary nursing assistant who helps out on the nursing floors.

"This goes to the lawmakers," said Dawn Trufley, a certified nursing assistant at the Beaver Valley Healthcare and Rehab Center. "When they're making more on unemployment than the $14.65 that they start here, what are you gonna do?"

Trufley of Midland said better wages create better staffing.

Some employees question the starting wage, saying fast food and other restaurants pay similarly and are less physically demanding. Perhaps many on unemployment are more likely to stay on unemployment, employees said, or take an easier job that pays more.

"We deserve better wages for what we do," Peoples said.

Wages are among the many topics nursing home workers with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) are hoping to discuss during contract negotiations. Approximately 4,500 nursing home workers at over 80 facilities who are part of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania are negotiating new union contracts this year.

"The nursing home crisis has crossed a breaking point," said Matthew Yarnell, president, of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, who began his career over 20 years ago as a nursing home certified nursing assistant. "Over 13,000 people have died, and tens of thousands of caregivers sickened. It couldn't be more clear that we can't take care of our seniors and those with disabilities if we continue to have a health care system that is based around profit and the bottom line. We need patient and resident-centered care, we need to value and invest in the workforce so we have enough caregivers to do this life-saving work, and the industry and politicians need to take action now. No more excuses."

According to employees at the center, workers who had COVID-19 were required to stay at home to quarantine for 10 to 14 days, depending on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines at the time.

Employees were required to use their paid time off first. Once all of their time was spent, they could go unpaid for the remaining days or file for workman's comp or unemployment.

When Conforti tested positive for COVID-19, she had to use her remaining eight vacation days, and then filed for workman's comp.

"They're making us use our (paid) time on something we didn't do," Conforti said.

Trufley said since the majority of nursing home workers received COVID from work, the center should be responsible for payment.

"You got to choose to not get paid, or take your vacation time. The problem is, if we got it here — obviously — the company should have been liable to pay us," Trufley said. "We could file a claim with unemployment or workman's comp, but you get, what, 50% of your wages for the virus we got because of a pandemic?"

Since March of 2020, 71,629 long-term care facility residents have tested positive for COVID-19. An additional 15,330 staff members have tested positive, according to state data, and COVID has been present in 1,590 nursing homes, personal care homes and other long-term care facilities.

The pandemic not only took a physical toll on employees and residents at nursing facilities across the state, but an emotional one, too. Nursing homes were largely closed off to visitors for months, leaving employees acting as both caregivers and loved ones for many residents.

"We are their family. For the last 15 months, we're who they have. So when there's only a few of us, we can't be there for them with the emotional support that they deserve," Trufley said.

Employees at the Beaver Valley Healthcare and Rehab Center, and countless others across the state, say they haven't left the industry because of their love for the residents, despite the challenges.

"We stay for our residents," Conforti said. "If we're not here, no one will take care of them."

A majority of the residents at the center are elderly, and Trufley said they deserve love and support.

"These people are our past," Trufley said. "We should be there for them now. They took care of us. Now it's our turn, and we're not doing a really good job of it."

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