Statement of Milly Silva, Executive Vice President, on Supreme Court DAPA/DACA decision

MIAMI — As the Omicron variant of COVID-19 surges across Florida, caregivers at HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) report critical understaffing at their facilities is jeopardizing patient care, according to a new survey announced by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, the state’s largest union of healthcare workers.

Governor Hochul is rightly responding to our ongoing healthcare crisis by putting an end to years of austerity and making desperately-needed investments in the providers and caregivers on the frontlines. We appreciate her focus on rewarding those who have sacrificed so much during this pandemic and building the workforce of the future so that patients can receive the highest-quality care.

“Whenever I felt despair, I thought about my family. It was my Mom who sustained me,” says Jon-Adrian Velazquez, who was finally released on September 9th after being wrongly incarcerated for almost 24 years.

As the Omicron variant spreads, it is important for you to understand the benefits that are available to you in the event that you or a member of your family gets sick. Here is what you should know about the different benefit programs that exist in New Jersey:

We all expected and hoped against hope to see a healthier new year. But, the Omicron variant, raging across the world, has quashed that vision for now. The reality is that we are once again in severe crisis.

Working in the healthcare profession, many 1199ers continued to battle the effects of COVID-19 in their institutions throughout 2021 despite the arrival of the vaccine early in the year. After being loudly praised as heroes in 2020, many also faced tough battles with management at the bargaining table to preserve their wages and benefits. But as 1199SEIU members have done for more than six decades now, they showed their strength across all our regions by standing together.

As we head into the third year of a pandemic that has lasted longer than expected, Governor Hochul’s 2022 State of the State honors the work and sacrifices that 1199SEIU members have endured. We are pleased to see the Governor is making a significant commitment to invest in the current healthcare workforce, increasing the number of new workers joining the workforce, and moving them along their career pathway. We are also glad to see industry-wide solutions, including a new portal for potential healthcare workers and others seeking training. While we await more details in the budget proposal, we do have key questions about support for vital safety net institutions that have provided lifesaving care during this pandemic and about how the need for permanent wage increases will be addressed.

We all expected and hoped against hope to see a healthier new year. But, the Omicron variant, raging across the world, has quashed that vision for now. The reality is that we are once again in crisis. We may be better prepared on some fronts this time. Still, we are concerned about the risks associated with the CDC’s newest recommendation to reduce quarantine time and allow healthcare workers who test positive, without symptoms, to return to work in five days.

Forty years ago, 1199’s Bread and Roses Program revived its wildly successful musical revue. Whereas the original production in 1980 was titled “Take Care,” the 1982 version was named “Take Care, Take Care.”

MIAMI---The state’s largest union of healthcare workers, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, has published “A Crisis Of Their Own Making,” a white paper highlighting the failures of the long-term care industry as illustrated by one of Florida’s largest nursing home chains.