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Employees of State College nursing home picket, push for new contract amid COVID-19

Centre Daily Times - 1/12/2021

Jan. 11—More than a dozen overworked Hearthside Rehab and Nursing Center employees picketed Monday in the midst of weekslong contract negotiations with a new ownership group.

Embassy Healthcare purchased the facility at 450 Waupelani Drive in November, a move front-line caregivers said has led to chaos as COVID-19 ravages long-term care facilities.

"I bring myself to work every day and I'm basically fighting for my life because I might have to take this to my family. And it's like they don't care; it's a lot of not caring," licensed practical nurse Danielle Fox said tearfully. "We come to work every day like we're expected to, they put us on these COVID units and it's like, 'Here ya go. Fend for yourself.' "

Neither the State College facility's administrator nor the company's corporate office responded to a request for comment.

The former contract agreed to by the union that represents about 60 workers and the previous ownership was scheduled to expire in June, but was terminated after the sale, a union spokesperson said.

The contract did not include a clause that would require a new company to honor the existing deal, said Matt Yarnell, president of the Service Employees Union International Union.

"It's very, very, very hard for health care workers to win successorship because I think employers and providers know that there is a constant churn of operations, so they always want to be able to have their bite at the apple to erode standards," Yarnell said. "That's part of the problem."

Burgeoning outbreaks at long-term care facilities are laying bare chronic problems facing an industry among the hardest hit by the disease.

Chief among the challenges are rising health care costs, adequate staffing and wages. Insurance premiums ballooned, with one employee saying her payments per paycheck more than quadrupled from $90 to $381.

"Some of us are working two jobs just to make ends meet," said Fox, who has worked at Hearthside for 15 years. "With this insurance increase, with the pandemic, some people might actually have to drop their insurance."

More than 120 residents tested positive for the disease as of Dec. 27, among the most at a long-term care facility in Centre County. At least 26 residents' deaths were attributed to COVID-19, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

About 8% of total COVID-19 cases and 84% of deaths attributed to the disease in Centre County were reported among long-term care facility residents or staff, according to state Department of Health data.

The company and the union are scheduled to resume bargaining Thursday.

"It's really tough; it's very super stressful. Whether you want to or not, you take it home to your families. It's not just here at the workplace where everybody is stressed out, your families pay for it as well," Fox said. "It's just super stressful. Everybody is stressed."

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