Do you have a nursing home short staffing story?
Our statement on Governor McKee's nursing home staffing law changes in his state budget proposal:
“Governor McKee’s proposed state budget is nothing short of an attack on Rhode Island’s most vulnerable nursing home residents and their hardworking caregivers. He proposes to gut the Nursing Home Safe Staffing and Quality Care Act, weakening the staffing standards by including non-direct care staff, slashing penalties for nursing homes who fail to meet the staffing standard, and redirecting Medicaid funding meant for frontline caregivers to administrators.
McKee ran his campaign on a platform of improving healthcare outcomes for Rhode Islanders and raising wages for workers yet this latest move positions him with right-wing extremists who want to shield nursing home owners who cut corners and deliver inadequate care.
As serious deficiencies in nursing homes have been surging, now more than ever we need our lawmakers to fight for strong, enforceable nursing home standards. We call on the General Assembly to reject these changes to the safe staffing law and prioritize the needs of vulnerable residents and caregivers.”
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.