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February 28, 2000
Low salaries forhealth-care workerscreate crisis in stateHealth-care providersdemand more state funding for wagesBy GUY PRIEL Journal Staff Writer NEW ULM -- Local nursing home administrators and health-care providers say recent legislation designed to increase wages has not gone far enough to prevent a labor shortage. The administrators will join with others from throughout the state on March 9 when they hold a rally on the steps of the Capitol in St. Paul. "The bottom line is that the workers are underpaid," Oak Hills Nursing Home Administrator Carli Lindemann said. "That is something we have no control over. Payment rates are set by the state and all raises for employees have to come from the government." The labor market has been fairly steady the past few years because of various programs that have been put in place. However, facilities such as Oak Hills are faced with a shrinking pool of candidates and will end up competing for staff. "We can't provide quality care without staff," Lindemann said. "We are doing OK so far, but we have experienced a high turn-over rate for employees." The problems stem from the responsibility involved with nursing home work. Employees find they can do less work for either the same amount of pay, or more money. They get frustrated and leave, Lindemann said. "Nursing home workers really are not compensated for the amount of responsibility involved with their job," she said. "There is extra money available at the state level and we want some of it. We wouldn't ask for it if we didn't think they deserved it." The average nursing home employee is getting paid $8 per hour in many cases. Administrators believe they deserve about $10 per hour, which is not a significant amount of money, Lindemann said. In order for the lawmakers to approve a wage increase, they need evidence of a crisis in lack of services or lack of staffing. Last year legislators approved a 3 percent wage increase. "We are caught between a rock and a hard place," Lindemann said. "The industry is screaming here, and we are bordering on a crisis. Many nursing homes are having to turn away residents because of a lack of staff." Care providers hope that by marching on the Capitol they will get the message out that something needs to be done, because it is a visible reminder of the human element, Lindemann said. "I certainly support an increase for nursing home employees and care givers for the developmentally disabled," Rep. James Clark, R-Springfield, said. "We need to make a strong commitment to people caring for our parents, grandparents and other vulnerable citizens." Enjoying a job does not always compensate for struggling finances. "We need to make it economically possible for them to continue their employment," Clark said. "One goal is to also increase the reimbursement rate for nursing home employees and reduce the disparity." Employees in the metro area receive 112 percent reimbursement, as opposed to 84 percent in rural areas, which is not fair, Clark said. During a recent meeting in Redwood Falls regarding federal Medicare reform, health care providers told Second District Rep. David Minge that wage disparity was becoming a major problem. One worker stated that 10 percent of the nursing homes in the United States have filed for bankruptcy because of rising costs and decreasing staff. Many college students are being told not to enter the profession, which creates a shortage as well.
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