Nursing home firm, union make ‘progress’ in labor negotiations; strike likely at other facilities – Meadville Tribune

Negotiations between a healthcare union and the operator of 10 nursing homes progressed this week amid threats of a strike at 24 facilities owned by three different companies across Pennsylvania.

Guardian Healthcare and the SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania labor union reached an agreement, however, details havent been released, a spokesperson for the employer said Friday. A representative for SEIU Healthcare, also on Friday, said the union has made progress with Guardian and that an announcement is expected Monday.

Union nurses and other organized staff at the 24 nursing homes voted this week to send strike notices to their employers: Guardian Healthcare, Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services and Priority Healthcare.

A strike is no longer expected at Guardian facilities, according to a Pennsylvania Department of Health spokesperson.

SEIU Healthcare represents about 1,100 workers across the sites. Their collective bargaining agreement expired in early August.

The union alleges the companies failed to provide information on agency staffing and related costs and also havent included updated regulatory staffing ratios during negotiations of a new collective bargaining agreement.

SEIU Healthcare originally said strikes will begin Sept. 2 at all three facilities. Strikes were still anticipated Friday at facilities owned by Comprehensive Healthcare and Priority Healthcare.

Comprehensive Healthcare and Mt. Lebanon Operations, the latter being unrelated to the SEIU announcement, along with five individuals were indicted this month by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and related health care fraud charges.

SEIU Healthcare seeks a $16 hourly minimum wage for dietary, housekeeping, and other ancillary staff; $20 hourly minimum for certified nursing assistants; $25 hourly minimum for licensed practical nurses. Additionally, the union also seeks step increases to retain experienced employees, employer-paid health insurance and Successorship Language in the new contract to protect terms in the event a facility is sold.

According to the unions formal strike announcement, the employers wont meaningfully bargain over the use of outside agency staff. Pay raises offered to the workers are lower than what was offered a year ago, the union said.

Workforce shortages caused in part by the COVID-19 pandemic spurred the allocation of an additional $515 million to the industry in the latest Pennsylvania budget. Minimum staffing ratios were also changed from one nursing staff employee per 20 residents to one nursing staffer per 10 residents in the day and evening and 15 residents overnight.

The state raised Medicaid reimbursement rates for nursing homes by 17.5 percent, about $35 more per resident per day beginning in 2023, according to an analysis by the Pennsylvania Health Care Association (PHCA). At least 70 percent of the daily reimbursement must be spent on direct patient care, according to SEIU Healthcare.

Additional funding includes $131 million in federal stimulus money for nursing homes plus another $26.7 million in stimulus funds for assisted living communities and personal care homes, $33 million in Medicaid Day One Incentive payments and a $20 million increase to Supplemental Security Income rates for personal care home residents, according to PHCA.

This appropriation came with bipartisan support and was celebrated by both industry and the workforce. Now, less than 60 days after the governors signature on this historic legislation, were hearing of select nursing home operators who are refusing to commit to the types of investments this funding was intended to support, Barry Ciccocioppo, communications director, Department of Health, said.

The increased payments, which go to direct resident care, and the federal funding, which can be utilized for, among other things, staff recruitment and retention, are necessary to maintain and increase quality of care for the residents. The important point is that however the money is utilized, operators must comply with staffing requirements in the forthcoming updated regulations, which are expected to go into effect in 2023, Ciccocioppo said.

The 24 facilities identified by SEIU Healthcare that face strikes are as follows:

Comprehensive Healthcare: The Grove at Irwin, Irwin; The Grove at New Castle, New Castle; The Grove at Harmony, Harmony; The Grove at Washington, Washington, Pa.

Guardian Healthcare: Beaver Valley Healthcare & Rehab, Beaver Falls; Clarion Health & Rehab, Clarion; Meyersdale Healthcare & Rehab, Meyersdale; Oil City Healthcare & Rehab, Oil City; Riverside Rehab & Nursing, Taylor; Titusville Healthcare & Rehab, Titusville; Uniontown Healthcare & Rehab, Uniontown; Guardian Elder Care at Nanticoke, Nanticoke; Richland Healthcare & Rehab, Johnstown; Belair Healthcare & Rehab, Burrell.

Priority Healthcare: The Meadows at Blue Ridge, Camp Hill; The Meadows at West Shore, Camp Hill; The Gardens at Easton/Praxis, Easton; Rose City Nursing & Rehab, Lancaster; The Meadows at York Terrace, Pottsville; Fairlane Gardens Nursing & Rehab, Reading; The Gardens at Wyoming Valley, Wilkes-Barre; The Gardens at East Mountain, Wilkes-Barre; The Meadows at Stroud, East Stroudsburg.

Shenandoah Heights Healthcare: Ridgeview Healthcare & Rehab, Shenandoah.

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Nursing home firm, union make 'progress' in labor negotiations; strike likely at other facilities - Meadville Tribune