ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Calls for change Wednesday following Strong Hospital’s record census last week .
The hospital and local leaders say a contributing factor to the issue is that when older folks come to the hospital for care, they have no bed to get back to.
A nursing home worker says lack of pay is keeping homes understaffed, while 1199 SEIU, a healthcare union calls for changes to Medicaid.
Eunice Edgerson a nursing assistant, has been in the profession for almost a decade. She became a CNA to learn how to help her father through prostate cancer.
Wednesday, she says these issues stemmed from the pandemic. People quit the job for fear of getting the virus… Which has led to near-constant turnover in search of better pay.All that together, she says, a lack of beds.
“When you only have so many aids, so many nurses, and staff members to assist to meet a certain criteria, and if it’s not met, you can only do what you can, so a lot of people are just waiting,” she said.
Tracey Harrison, vice president of 1199 SEIU, says that increasing Medicaid funding and reimbursement rates is the only tangible path forward.