Get the facts about quality care at Wingate Healthcare here: wingatefacts.com/

For Immediate Release: November 2, 2016
Contact: Mindy Berman, 518.229.0486

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2

Massachusetts For-Profit Corporation, Wingate Healthcare, Refuses to Provide Market Wages and Affordable Health Benefits to Nursing Home Workers Despite Persistent Issues With Staff Turnover and Short-Staffing

WHAT: VIGIL FOR QUALITY CARE & A FAIR CONTRACT
WHEN: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 AT 3:00 P.M.-4:15 P.M.
WHERE: WINGATE AT DUTCHESS, 3 SUMMIT CT., FISHKILL
WHO: 1199SEIU HEALTHCARE WORKERS and

Partial List of Speakers Includes: Sean Patrick Maloney, Member of Congress, Didi Barrett, Member of NYS Assembly, Joel Tyner and Kari Reiser, Dutchess County Legislature, Ann Perry, Poughkeepsie City Council, Bishop Kenneth Kelly, Elizabeth Soto, HV Area Labor Federation, Diana Klein, APWU, Jay Nelson, NALC and more

3:00 P.M. - INTERVIEWS AND PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES AT THE SITE

Background:
Healthcare workers at Wingate at Dutchess, new members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, have been trying to negotiate their first contract for almost a year. 1199’s proposals would improve wages and benefits, which would go a long way in helping to resolve problems related to the recruitment and retention of staff, thereby improving a problematic staffing situation and quality care.

Points of Information:

• Needham, Massachusetts-based Wingate Healthcare operates 3 nursing homes in New York State (and 22 others in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.)

• Wingate’s Dutchess and Ulster nursing homes underperform NYS averages on CNA and total staffing, with only between 60-70% of CNAs staying for the entire duration of fiscal year 2014.

• Wingate at Dutchess underperforms state and national averages when it comes to hours per resident day (HRPD) of care delivered by CNAs.

• CMS Nursing Home Compare data indicates that the company’s NYS nursing homes underperform state and national averages on a number of important care quality indicators. Here are several examples:

1. At Wingate at Dutchess, the percentage of long-stay residents with urinary tract infections (UTIs) is more than double the average for nursing homes in NYS and nationwide.

2. Wingate at Dutchess also exceeds the corresponding state and national averages on the percentage of high-risk long-stay residents with pressure ulcers, the percentage of long-stay residents with a catheter inserted and left in their bladder, and the percentage of long-stay residents who received an antipsychotic medication.

1199SEIU members say that ratings like these are related to short staffing and/or staff turnover. This has a significant impact on continuity and quality of care and is partly driven by the below union market wages and benefits offered by Wingate Healthcare, which it make difficult to recruit and retain staff.

1199SEIU Executive Vice President said, “By continuing to offer below market wages and benefits, with no contract to provide economic and job security, Wingate Healthcare is compelling dedicated caregivers to look for jobs at other facilities in the area, where there are good collective bargaining agreements with fair wages, affordable health benefits and staffing is reasonable. Nothing about the current situation is fair to Wingate’s residents and their families who rely on quality and continuity of care delivered by a stable and experienced workforce, or to exhausted caregivers who are working short-staffed and providing the best possible care under challenging circumstances. We are urging Wingate Healthcare to settle a fair contract immediately, to the benefit of everyone.”

Staffing numbers are derived from FY2014 RHCF-4 Cost Reports. NY average excludes facilities reporting retention rates above 100% and facilities reporting incomplete retention data.

Staffing data from CMS Nursing Home Compare, filedate September 1, 2016. Quality data from CMS Nursing Home Compare, filedate September 1, 2016. Data collection period for long-stay measures referenced herein is April 1, 2015, to March 31, 2016.

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1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in America. We represent over 400,000 nurses and caregivers throughout Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Florida. Our mission is to achieve quality care and good jobs for all.