As coronavirus continues to sweep through New Jersey’s nursing homes unabated, 1199SEIU is calling on all state legislators to investigate the conditions in the nursing facilities within their districts. With state DOH resources stretched to the limit, every legislator must personally step up—immediately—to ensure that nursing homes are following all state directives, including:

• Universal masking of all staff and masking of symptomatic residents when they are being cared for.

• Isolating sick residents to separate wings and floors, and transferring residents to other facilities when this is not feasible.

• Daily, in-person and written notification to all employees about the COVID-19 status within their facility.

Several members of 1199SEIU in New Jersey have lost their lives from COVID-19 after working in unacceptably dangerous conditions and lacking basic protective gear. Caregivers have been thrown into the frontlines unarmed and unprepared to keep themselves safe—causing the virus to spread rapidly among patients and workers alike.

1199SEIU further demands:

• N95 masks, surgical masks and face shields, proper fitting gloves and gowns for all staff providing hands-on care to suspected or positive COVID-19 patients. PPE must be allocated according to need—not given selectively to higher-level nursing and administrative staff when CNAs and other frontline workers with direct patient exposure go without. Ancillary staff such as housekeepers and dietary workers must also be provided appropriate PPE. The lives of low-wage workers are not expendable.

• Prioritized, fast-track COVID-19 testing for every symptomatic healthcare worker.

• Public disclosure of the names of every nursing facility with COVID-19 cases—how many residents and staff have tested positive, and the number of deaths. Lack of transparency only fuels misinformation.

• That a full record be kept of every nursing home patient death during this pandemic, whether they were tested for COVID-19 or not. Too many deaths are going unreported due to lack of testing.

• Public hearings when the pandemic is over to determine whether nursing homes have acted within established medical, legal, and ethical guidelines to protect patients and workers.

1199SEIU is urging all NJ state legislators to sign-on to a pledge in support of these principles: https://www.1199seiu.org/newjersey/pledge-support-nj-nursing-home-caregivers-their-patients

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1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in New Jersey and nationwide. We represent over 16,000 healthcare families in New Jersey and over 450,000 total members throughout New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida, and Washington, D.C.   Our mission is to achieve quality care and good jobs for all.