Historic new labor-industry healthcare partnership announced

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A new and historic labor-industry partnership was announced Wednesday by the Pennsylvania Health Care Association (PHCA) and SEIU Healthcare PA.

The partnership was created to solve workforce challenges in nursing homes and will advocate for accountable funding and investment in family-sustaining nursing home jobs, according to a release.

PHCA represents the interests of Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable residents and is the advocacy association for hundreds of long-term care providers. SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania is the state’s largest healthcare workers’ union, representing nearly 9,000 nursing home workers.

“The Pennsylvania Health Care Association and SEIU Healthcare PA have formed a strategic partnership aimed at advocating together, bargaining together, growing together, and preserving the long-term care continuum in Pennsylvania together,” Zach Shamberg, president and CEO of PHCA, said in a statement. “Our partnership is built on the foundation of collective advocacy, and addressing the challenges plaguing our sector, including the Budget Adjustment Factor.”

The partnership is the first of its kind in Pennsylvania and will deal with improving resident care and jobs in nursing homes.

“This partnership between PHCA, responsible operators, and union workers who advocate for their residents every day is the type of collaboration needed to raise standards of care, and we’re looking forward to growing the partnership,” said Matthew Yarnell, president of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania and former certified nursing assistant. “This is a time to continue the reforms, funding increases, and staffing standards we created out of the pandemic, not stop.”

The two organizations shared their joint plan to advocate for accountable funding and called for an update to the Budget Adjustment Factor (BAF). House Bill 1310, which was introduced in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Tuesday, would infuse the system with approximately $140 million new dollars for long-term care and provide sustainability and predictability for providers, workers, and residents.

While Pennsylvania is home to the 5th highest population of older adults in the U.S., an estimated 2,000 people per day wait for a nursing home bed. Pennsylvania’s nursing home resident population is expected to double by 2035, yet many workers have left the field for careers that are higher-paying and less-stressful.

In addition, Pennsylvania has lost 30 nursing homes since 2021. At $256 per resident per day, Pennsylvania’s Medicaid reimbursement rate trails all of its neighboring states.

As part of the partnership, a few responsible operators of Pennsylvania nursing homes will join advocacy for increased funding. These operators have made a commitment to approach labor-management relationships, including contract negotiations, with the common interest of raising care and job standards in Pennsylvania.

“Every Pennsylvanian deserves safe, dignified care in the setting of their choosing,” Yarnell said. “The only way to do that is by more deeply investing in making jobs in nursing homes some of the best jobs in the community: union jobs with competitive wages and benefits.

Said Shamberg, “Now is the time for action on this outdated funding mechanism. What may have worked in 2006 certainly won’t work today – and that’s why we’re proud to team up on behalf of long-term providers, workers, and residents to get this done.”