NURSING THE CUTS
Hundreds of health and childcare workers braved freezing temperatures at a rally
in Springfield, they say, so the people they serve aren’t left out in the cold.
Approximately 700 purple-clad members of the Service Employees International
Union from Illinois and Indiana gathered at the Capitol Nov. 20 to call on
state lawmakers to restore $425 million slashed from hospitals and nursing
homes.
The 85,000-member SEIU argues the budget reductions threaten care to hundreds of
thousands of Illinois citizens by delaying payments to nursing homes and
hospitals and further reducing “already inadequate staff and supply levels throughout the industry.”
Martina Casey, a childcare provider for seven years, believes facing the chilly
weather was more important than remaining at her warm home-based daycare
center.
“I’ve got to come out here and fight for them,” says Casey, who planned to speak with legislators about speeding up the
reimbursement cycle to childcare providers.
Under the current stressful economic climate, working families rely heavily on
state services, says SEIU executive-board chairwoman and homecare worker Flora
Johnson. “Everybody needs help,” she says. “When we cut back, the people that we care for suffer.”
Gov. Rod Blagojevich made the cuts — which included $350 million for hospitals, $50 million to nursing homes and $25
million to the Department of Aging — in July in what Blagojevich characterized at the time as a necessary move to
balance the budget. The House later reinstated the nursing home funds; however,
the Senate failed to vote on the measure.
“They need to do something,” says Bonita Williams, who claims to have worked at every nursing home in
Chicago. Since she joined the healthcare field in 1976, she says she’s seen worker-to-patient ratios double and healthcare professionals routinely
perform the duties of two or three workers.
There’s hope that conditions will soon improve when the SEIU completes contract talks
with state officials for 35,000 nursing home employees scheduled for next year.
When asked whether she would prefer better benefits for staff or additional
workers, Williams replies: “Both.”
“When you don’t give quality benefits, everybody is going to quit,” she says, “and when you don’t have enough staff, you can’t give quality care.”
This article appears in Nov 20-26, 2008.
