HYANNIS – A group advocating for senior citizens is pushing for state officials to protect wages for nursing home caregivers amid a staffing shortage of direct care workers.
The Massachusetts Senior Care Association (MSCA) recently launched their ‘Respect and Protect Nursing Home Caregiver Wages’ campaign, which calls on lawmakers to make the one-time supplemental pandemic funding that increased wages for caregivers permanent.
MSCA President Tara Gregorio urged the state to fortify higher pay rates for direct care jobs since the funds are set to expire at the end of June.
“Without this funding, we will erode the meaningful progress we have made toward moving our staff closer to a living wage and instead be forced to cut pay, which will further exacerbate our workforce crisis and put in jeopardy access to quality nursing home care,” Gregorio said.
The MSCA official said $238 million would be needed in the state’s budget to cover the wages and to hire an additional 2,000 caregivers, though the federal government would reimburse half of the funds.
According to MSCA, many nursing homes in Massachusetts are not able to admit potential residents because of the current workforce shortage in the field.
By Brian Engles, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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