Nursing Home Workers At 20+ Nursing Homes Demonstrate For Transparency and Investment - Including The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at River Valley

According to a press released issued by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East:

“1199SEIU nursing home workers in Poughkeepsie are among the hundreds of members of 1199SEIU Healthcare Workers East, the nation’s largest healthcare union, who will be holding demonstrations and vigils at more than 20 nursing homes across New York State, calling for greater transparency and investment in quality resident care.

“Actions will also be held at nursing homes in Schenectady, Erie, Jefferson, Monroe, Nassau, Niagara, Onondaga, Oneida, and Suffolk counties and New York City. Many of these facilities have low average hours of care per resident, use a high number of related parties to hide profits, or otherwise rank poorly in care quality.

“‘For far too long, nursing homes around New York State have made investment in resident care an afterthought,’” said Milly Silva, Executive Vice President of the Nursing Home Division.

“‘We are calling on these for-profit nursing homes to prioritize and invest in people – the residents and the workers who care for them day in and day out. Our members have been battling COVID-19 for the last year, but issues like low wages and a lack of adequate time to devote to individual patient care existed pre-COVID. Our goal is to enact real reforms to raise standards within the industry, and ensure that meaningful investment is made in residents and workers once and for all,’” Silva continued.

“The demonstrations are the latest actions led by the union to call attention to the need for systemic reform of the nursing home industry. Last week, 1199SEIU launched a multi-million dollar ad campaign, Invest in Quality Care, to press the legislature to ensure nursing homes focus on quality care to protect residents and the dedicated workers who care for them, rather than maximizing profits. On Valentine’s Day, members across New York engaged in a virtual “sticker” campaign, using social media to urge their State Assemblymembers and Senators to enact key reforms and ensure the most vulnerable in the state get the investment and care they need.

Lourdes Torres, an LPN at The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at River Valley, said: “Forty residents. Two aides. And me. How is it possible for me to meet the needs of my residents? Today, I tried to spend time with a very scared man who recently almost died from COVID and still has a lot of anxiety. He has no family other than those of us who take care of him at River Valley. But there were 39 other people who needed my attention, and I had to walk away. He was upset. And I was upset. So many co-workers have left or are planning to leave. That’s terrible for continuity of care. It’s terrible for those of us left. But I understand. It feels unbearable so often. The state needs to make changes in how nursing homes owners do business.”

“1199SEIU’s Invest in Quality Care campaign points out that Instead of investing in enough staff to ensure quality care for residents, many nursing home owners are hiding their profits by sub-contracting services to companies they own, often at inflated prices.

“1199SEIU and its members are calling on Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature to pass systemic reform for the nursing home industry to improve transparency, hold operators accountable for misconduct, and ensure they prioritize resident care over maximized profits.

“As New York Attorney General Letitia James found in a shocking new report on the impact of COVID-19 on nursing homes, “the current state reimbursement model for nursing homes gives a financial incentive to owners of for-profit nursing homes to transfer funds to related parties (ultimately increasing their own profit) instead of investing in higher levels of staffing and PPE.”

About 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East

1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in America. We represent over 450,000 nurses and caregivers throughout New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Florida. Their mission is to achieve quality care and good jobs for all.

Nursing Home Workers Stage Picket Calling For Owners To Be Transparent in Staff Treatment and Quality Care - In Poughkeepsie Thursday

Since the pandemic, the employees and residents of Nursing Homes have been in the national spotlight, out of concern for their physical and emotional safety. The pandemic has brought what may be systematic problems within the nursing home industry to light. Said Milly Silva, Executive Vice President of the Nursing Home Division: “Our members have been battling COVID-19 for the last year, but issues like low wages and a lack of adequate time to devote to individual patient care existed pre-COVID. Our goal is to enact real reforms to raise standards within the industry, and ensure that meaningful investment is made in residents and workers once and for all,”

In a prepared statement to the Legislature during hearings, which is published on NYSenate.gov, Milly stated: “The nursing home industry is not going to be the same after this pandemic. Resident census is lower, and it is unclear how quickly it will recover. Returning to the status quo pre-pandemic is impossible. More than that, it is not morally acceptable. New York ranked 31st in the nation for nursing home quality according to CMS surveys, and in the bottom 10 nationally for persistent pressure ulcers. Residents are only getting 2.38 hours of hands-on care per day, earning our state a ‘D”’on a national scorecard. Nursing home caregivers are forced to work multiple jobs to make ends meet, leading to staff turnover and burnout. We can, and must, do much, much better.”

Picket In Poughkeepsie By Nursing Home Employees

Today, Thursday, February 18, 2021, nursing home staff represented by the United Healthcare Workers East (1199SEIU) are hosting a picket and holding vigils in Poughkeepsie, calling for nursing home reform, transparency and investment in quality care.

According to the press release announcing the picket, “1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in America,” it says. “We represent over 450,000 nurses and caregivers throughout New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Florida. Our mission is to achieve quality care and good jobs for all.”

What follows below is the press release sent by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East 2/16/2021:

1199SEIU Nursing Home Workers Stage Statewide Pickets and Vigils, Call for Nursing Home Reform, Transparency and Investment in Quality Care

Hundreds of workers in the nation’s largest healthcare union will hold vigils and demonstrations outside nursing home facilities to demand investment in people over profits.

New York ranks 45th in the nation in an important quality metric due to the large number of nursing homes with below-average hours of care per resident 

When:      Thursday, February 18 | 2:30p.m.- 4p.m.

Where:      The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at River Valley | 140 Main St, Poughkeepsie

1199SEIU nursing home workers in Poughkeepsie are among the hundreds of members of 1199SEIU Healthcare Workers East, the nation’s largest healthcare union, who will be holding demonstrations and vigils at more than 20 nursing homes across New York State, calling for greater transparency and investment in quality resident care. 

Actions will also be held at nursing homes in Schenectady, Erie, Jefferson, Monroe, Nassau, Niagara, Onondaga, Oneida, and Suffolk counties and New York City.  Many of these facilities have low average hours of care per resident, use a high number of related parties to hide profits, or otherwise rank poorly in care quality. 

“For far too long, nursing homes around New York State have made investment in resident care an afterthought,” said Milly Silva, Executive Vice President of the Nursing Home Division.

“We are calling on these for-profit nursing homes to prioritize and invest in people – the residents and the workers who care for them day in and day out.  Our members have been battling COVID-19 for the last year, but issues like low wages and a lack of adequate time to devote to individual patient care existed pre-COVID. Our goal is to enact real reforms to raise standards within the industry, and ensure that meaningful investment is made in residents and workers once and for all,” Silva continued.

The demonstrations are the latest actions led by the union to call attention to the need for systemic reform of the nursing home industry. Last week, 1199SEIU launched a multi-million dollar ad campaign, Invest in Quality Care, to press the legislature to ensure nursing homes focus on quality care to protect residents and the dedicated workers who care for them, rather than maximizing profits. On Valentine’s Day, members across New York engaged in a virtual “sticker” campaign, using social media to urge their State Assemblymembers and Senators to enact key reforms and ensure the most vulnerable in the state get the investment and care they need. 

Lourdes Torres is an LPN at The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at River Valley.

Forty residents. Two aides. And me. How is it possible for me to meet the needs of my residents? Today, I tried to spend time with a very scared man who recently almost died from COVID and still has a lot of anxiety. He has no family other than those of us who take care of him at River Valley. But there were 39 other people who needed my attention, and I had to walk away. He was upset. And I was upset. So many co-workers have left or are planning to leave. That’s terrible for continuity of care. It’s terrible for those of us left. But I understand. It feels unbearable so often. The state needs to make changes in how nursing homes owners do business.”

1199SEIU’s Invest in Quality Care campaign points out that Instead of investing in enough staff to ensure quality care for residents, many nursing home owners are hiding their profits by sub-contracting services to companies they own, often at inflated prices.

1199SEIU and its members are calling on Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature to pass systemic reform for the nursing home industry to improve transparency, hold operators accountable for misconduct, and ensure they prioritize resident care over maximized profits.

As New York Attorney General Letitia James found in a shocking new report on the impact of COVID-19 on nursing homes, “the current state reimbursement model for nursing homes gives a financial incentive to owners of for-profit nursing homes to transfer funds to related parties (ultimately increasing their own profit) instead of investing in higher levels of staffing and PPE.”

1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in America. We representover 450,000 nurses and caregivers throughout New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington, D.C. andFlorida. Our mission is to achieve quality care and good jobs for all.

Nursing Homes In Dutchess County Get COVID-19 Testing Focus - Pilot Program Launching In Beacon's Wingate As Testing Reveals Concern In Ulster

During a time when the press corps covering the daily pandemic briefings from Governor Cuomo pursues the governor with unrelenting questions on the COVID-19 status of nursing home residents and PPE supplies, the death toll of elderly residents mounts in New York City and surrounding counties. Dutchess County announced this week (4/28/2020) a new testing program to test residents living in the 13 nursing homes within Dutchess County.

Citing an uptick in reported COVID-19 cases as a result of recent testing in Ulster County, Dutchess County will begin testing every nursing home resident, beginning with Wingate in Beacon. According to the county’s press release, testing in Ulster County “has heightened concerns about potential spread of coronavirus, as 96 out of 330 residents at two Ulster County nursing homes tested positive for COVID-19 – with many of these cases exhibiting no symptoms (asymptomatic) and the individuals had only been in contact with healthy residents and staff members.”

The number of reported deaths in nursing homes in Dutchess County is 13 people as of yesterday (4/29/2020), as reported by New York State on this daily nursing home tracker. The number of deaths of people in nursing homes or adult care facilities in Orange County is 92 people, and in Putnam County it is 12 people. In Nassau County, it is 424 people, and in Kings County it is 447 people, and in Bronx County it is 570.

Dutchess County will begin releasing testing data from the nursing homes, said Communications Director Colleen Pillus. According to state data, there have been six deaths at the Ferncliff Nursing Home. Any home that has fewer than five deaths is not published at this time by New York State, citing privacy concerns.

The State Of Nursing Homes During The Pandemic

Publications like ProPublica have been covering the story for some time, and recently published this story of a daughter who removed her father from Queens Adult Care Center after he showed symptoms and was being neglected by fearful staff members, according to the article. Reporters at Governor Cuomo’s briefings have been asking for weeks for COVID-19 statistics at nursing homes, which New York State only recently starting releasing. Each day that the statistics had not been made public, Governor Cuomo cited delays from the nursing homes who were overwhelmed with caring for their residents. The total number of deceased people from nursing homes in New York State is 3,688, as of 4/29/2020.

To illustrate how quickly COVID-19 can spread through a nursing home, which Governor Cuomo has likened to a fire spreading through dry grass, Deadline.com has been publishing updates about elderly residents living in The Actor’s Fund Home in Englewood, N.J., a home for retired entertainers, from actors of stage and screen to screenwriters, dancers, producers and directors. The home has been forthcoming to its families with email updates, and to the media. The facilities administrator told NJ Advance Media that as of 4/14/2020, the facility had 12 residents test positive. As of 4/21/2020, 10 residents had died from COVID-19, as reported by Deadline.com, although the first reported death from COVID-19 was recorded on 4/10/2020, according to Deadline.com. About 35 to 40 staff had tested positive, though there have been no reported deaths of employees.

Dutchess County Testing and PPE

County Executive Marcus Molinaro has petitioned Governor Cuomo for 2,000 test kits for Dutchess County’s newly formed Nursing Homes Task Force, according to the county’s press release. “As the initial pilot gets underway,” the press release said, “and as tests are made available from New York State, Dutchess County’s Nursing Home Task Force will collaborate with each of the nursing home facilities’ infection control specialist to plan for each facilities’ specific needs, including providing adequate PPE supplies for staff to ensure there is no cross contamination during testing.”

Testing staff members at the nursing homes will not be included in this targeted testing, “as testing kits are limited,” confirmed Communications Director Colleen Pillus to A Little Beacon Blog when asked for clarification. Reports from outbreaks happening in nursing homes across the state, like this one in Hornell, include a focus on staff members who test positive, as reported by the New York Post.

Currently in Dutchess County, nursing home residents are only being tested when they present symptoms, said Dutchess County’s Communication Director Colleen. Moving forward in this new pilot program, elderly residents will be tested once as opposed to an ongoing way, as testing results take time to come back, said Colleen. Of the 13 nursing homes, one nursing home - Wingate in Beacon - will be the pilot location for this new program.

Who Oversees Nursing Homes?

As explained by Governor Cuomo repeatedly during briefings, nursing homes are generally private institutions that need to follow licensing requirements from New York State. According to The Leader, New York State will open an investigation into nursing homes, led by Attorney General Letitia James, “which will focus on whether nursing homes and adult-care facilities appropriately followed state law and regulation as the coronavirus went on its torrid spread in New York,” stated the article.

According to Dutchess County’s press release on its new testing program program: “Although nursing homes are under the authority and oversight of the New York State Department of Health, County Executive Molinaro established Dutchess County’s Nursing Home Task Force, under the direction of Dutchess Behavioral and Community Health (DBCH), to be in regular contact with nursing home leadership. The Task Force keeps open lines of communications, offers guidance where appropriate, and helps facilities address concerns and emerging issues, convening weekly conference calls with nursing homes.”

The announcement went on to address PPE needs: “Among the pressing needs has been the provision of PPE supplies to meet heightened New York State Department of Health mandates for nursing homes. Dutchess County has worked closely with the nursing homes, providing isolation suits and gowns, eye protection, N95 respirators, surgical masks, as well as hand sanitizer.”

Mental Health Assistance Provided For Nursing Home Staff, By Dutchess County

County Executive Molinaro has a strong track record on mental health for this region. Mental health assistance has been created for employees working in nursing homes. According to the press release: “Staffing has also been a concern for nursing homes. Stress levels and fear for all essential employees remain high and there is always a concern about lack of staff availability should there be large numbers of staff who need to be quarantined. News of deaths in nursing homes in other areas of the state and nation creates anxiety for staff, patients, as well as their families.

”To help combat the extreme amount of stress this pandemic has placed upon nursing home and residential facility staff, County Executive Molinaro and Deputy Commissioner of DBCH Dr. Jacqueline M. Johnson have mobilized the Dutchess County Trauma Team to provide mental health support. This collaborative team of mental health and substance abuse professionals respond to unpredictable and extreme events in Dutchess County. Led by Dr. Ellen Marx, the team will provide an in-service to nursing home staff to discuss the range of emotions the pandemic causes in general, work-related frustration and anxiety, dealing with grief, the importance of self-care, and much more. Individuals are helped to review their situation, encouraged to express the wide range of emotions traumatic events bring up, and identify strengths and ways to cope.”

Nursing Homes in Dutchess County 

This list has been provided by Dutchess County:

ArchCare at Ferncliff (formerly Ferncliff Nursing Home)
21 Ferncliff Road, Rhinebeck, NY 12572  (845) 876-2011    

The Baptist Home
46 Brookmeade Drive, Rhinebeck, NY 12572 (845) 876-2071    

Sapphire Wappingers Falls
37 S. Mesier Ave., Wappingers Falls, NY 12590 (800) 501-3936    

The Eleanor Nursing Care Center
419 North Quaker Lane, Hyde Park, NY 12538 (845) 229-9177    

Fishkill Center for Rehabilitation & Nursing
22 Robert R. Kasin Way, Beacon, NY 12508-1199 (800) 501-3936 

The Grand Nursing and Rehabilitation at Pawling
9 Reservoir Road, Pawling, NY 12564  (845) 855-5700  

The Grand Nursing and Rehabilitation at River Valley
140 Main St., Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 (845) 454-7600    

Lutheran Care Center at Concord Village
965 Dutchess Turnpike, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 (845) 486-9494 x215    

Northern Dutchess Residential Healthcare Facility - The Thompson House
6525 Springbrook Ave., Rhinebeck, NY 12572  (845) 871-3760     

Renaissance Rehabilitation and Nursing Center
4975 Albany Post Road, Staatsburg, NY 12580 (845) 889-4500      

The Pines at Poughkeepsie
100 Franklin St., Poughkeepsie, NY 12601  (845) 454-4100

Wingate at Beacon
10 Hastings Drive, Beacon, NY 12508  (845) 440-1600    

Wingate at Dutchess
3 Summit Court, Fishkill, NY 12524  (845) 896-1500