“The fundamental problem is the staff are not there,” said Stephen Hanse, president and CEO of NYS Health Facilities Association, which represents nursing homes in the state.
But advocates, economists, and academics said the nursing home crisis is the result of poor pay and working conditions for demanding jobs.
“It’s completely absurd to think there’s some kind of worker shortage,” said Monique Morrissey, an economist for the Economic Policy Institute, which has published several reports on nursing home care.
Morrissey said nurse aides are paid on a similar scale to fast-food workers, and registered nurses are paid less than their peers working in hospitals. In addition, most workers are women, with about one-third minorities, making a median hourly pay of $15.22. And union contracts cover fewer than 10% of employees in the industry.
“But this is particularly acute for nurse aides, many of whom live at or below poverty or just above poverty, most of whom don’t have good benefits, including healthcare benefits, which is tragic given that they’re working in healthcare,” she said.