On November 1, dozens of caregivers employed by 12 Consulate Health Care-run nursing homes in Florida delivered notices of their intent to strike.
“We told our administrator that we really don’t want to strike, but the company is forcing our hand,” explained Deborah Stanley, a CNA at Renaissance Health and Rehabilitation Center in West Palm Beach.
Caregivers voted to authorize a strike because Consulate continues to ignore caregivers’ concerns in contract negotiations to provide adequate staffing levels and guaranteed eight hours to care for the residents. The company is also offering workers a negligible 1.5% wage increase.
1199SEIU Florida recently released a study that examines Consulate Health Care’s track record of federal and state fines, and below-average care at certain facilities in Florida that put the health of seniors and people living with a disability at risk.
The study shows that while Consulate racked up nearly $2 million in federal and state fines for nursing home violations, the company made $1.7 billion from 2010-2012. In 2011,Consulate CEO Joseph Conte got a 108 percent pay increase that brought his salary to $1,330,196.
The report found that Consulate violated the state’s minimum staffing standards in 16 percent of its facilities for the first quarter of 2013. Additionally, the use of antipsychotic medications for long-stay residentsat Consulate nursing homes was above the state's average in all but one of the homes for the first quarter of 2013, according to the study.
“We struggle to do our jobs without enough staff on the floors. It’s really sad when our residents have to wait for us to give them the care they need,” explained Tamara Burns, a CNA at Bay Breeze Health and Rehabilitation Center in Venice. “I’m fighting for quality care for my residents.”
“We told our administrator that we really don’t want to strike, but the company is forcing our hand,” explained Deborah Stanley, a CNA at Renaissance Health and Rehabilitation Center in West Palm Beach.
Caregivers voted to authorize a strike because Consulate continues to ignore caregivers’ concerns in contract negotiations to provide adequate staffing levels and guaranteed eight hours to care for the residents. The company is also offering workers a negligible 1.5% wage increase.
1199SEIU Florida recently released a study that examines Consulate Health Care’s track record of federal and state fines, and below-average care at certain facilities in Florida that put the health of seniors and people living with a disability at risk.
The study shows that while Consulate racked up nearly $2 million in federal and state fines for nursing home violations, the company made $1.7 billion from 2010-2012. In 2011,Consulate CEO Joseph Conte got a 108 percent pay increase that brought his salary to $1,330,196.
The report found that Consulate violated the state’s minimum staffing standards in 16 percent of its facilities for the first quarter of 2013. Additionally, the use of antipsychotic medications for long-stay residentsat Consulate nursing homes was above the state's average in all but one of the homes for the first quarter of 2013, according to the study.
“We struggle to do our jobs without enough staff on the floors. It’s really sad when our residents have to wait for us to give them the care they need,” explained Tamara Burns, a CNA at Bay Breeze Health and Rehabilitation Center in Venice. “I’m fighting for quality care for my residents.”
