Nursing Home Workers' Legislation Passes General Assembly, Heads to McKee
GoLocalProv News Team
Nursing Home Workers' Legislation Passes General Assembly, Heads to McKee
The coalition, Raise the Bar on Resident Care, applauded the passage of the Nursing Home Staffing and Quality Care Act (S-2SubA Senator Maryellen Goodwin & H-5012SubA Representative Scott Slater) with the Senate’s approval.
“The Nursing Home Staffing and Quality Care Act will raise the bar on resident care for thousands of Rhode Island seniors and people with disabilities while providing a pathway out of poverty for the dedicated frontline workers who care for them,” said David Veliz, Director of the Rhode Island Interfaith Coalition to End Poverty, “We commend the leadership of Senate Whip Maryellen Goodwin and Representative Scott Slater in their steadfast commitment to passing this legislation.”
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About Legislation
For years, nursing home caregivers, resident family members and advocates have been speaking out about the need to raise staffing standards in Rhode Island nursing homes - long before COVID-19. Recent research finds that three-fourths of the nation’s nursing homes failed to meet federal staffing expectations for registered nurse staffing prior to the pandemic. Rhode Island ranked 40th in the country (Q4 of 2020 CMS) data for the average number of hours nursing home residents receive and last in New England. That’s why Raise the Bar on Resident Care launched its campaign almost two years ago to raise nursing home care standards.
The legislation will bring Rhode Island in line with Massachusetts for one of the best staffing standards in New England in 2022 and will phase into a standard in 2023 that will make Rhode Island a national leader for staffing standards for nursing home residents. Moreover, the legislation will put historically underpaid nursing home workers who are overwhelmingly women and disproportionately people of color on a path to a living wage by guaranteeing future Medicaid investments are directed towards wages.
The starting wage for Rhode Island nursing assistants is just $12.34 or $23,693 a year. This wage falls far short of the estimated annual pre-tax earnings of $66,057 required to meet the basic needs of a single-parent family in Rhode Island. By raising wages, this legislation will allow nursing homes to better recruit and retain qualified caregivers.