Our full statement on the lack of veto override:
“Raise the Bar on Resident Care coalition is disappointed by the General Assembly’s decision not to override Governor McKee’s veto of the Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board Bill. Thousands of Rhode Island nursing home residents and caregivers have suffered for too long from a lack of quality care while nursing home owners continue to generate millions in profit.
As a former nursing home resident, I know all too well the consequences when corporate nursing homes cut corners on staffing, training and supplies. Rhode Island currently ranks 39th in the country for nursing home staffing and serious nursing home deficiencies are surging. Our state’s staffing law remains un-enforced and the Governor has no alternative plan in place to fix this crisis. It is not too late to change course and implement this law – we call on the General Assembly to expedite passage of the Workforce Standards Board nill on day one so it arrives on Governor McKee’s desk in February.”
– John Pernorio, President of the Rhode Island Alliance for Retired Americansand member of Raise the Bar on Resident Care.
About Raise the Bar on Resident Care Coalition
Rhode Island has a nursing home staffing crisis that far predated the pandemic. That’s why, in 2019, advocates from Raise the Bar on Resident Care launched a campaign to achieve safe staffing and quality resident care and were able to help pass The Nursing Home Staffing and Quality Care Act in 2021, which includes some of the strongest staffing standards in the country. Each day; Raise the Bar continues its work to make sure that every nursing home resident and caregiver can live with dignity, respect and safety.
The Raise the Bar Coalition includes the following partners:
- Senior Agenda Coalition of RI,
- District 1199 SEIU New England,
- RI Organizing Project,
- Economic Progress Institute,
- Sista Fire,
- RI Interfaith Coalition to Reduce Poverty,
- Women’s Fund of Rhode Island,
- Newport Partnership for Families,
- Fuerza Laboral,
- Protect our Healthcare Coalition,
- R.A.M.P (Real Access Motivates Progress),
- RI AFL-CIO, RI Working Families,
- Advocates for Better Care in Rhode Island and
- Rhode Island Alliance for Retired Americans.