Health
The workforce crunch at skilled nursing homes and personal care facilities in Pennsylvania is having a spillover effect on hospitals, which are under strain from a 55% increase in COVID-19 patients since mid-November.
Sarah Laurel was a thriving professional who hit rock bottom due to addiction. Having turned her life around, she’s now working on behalf of those in recovery and on the streets with Savage Sisters.
Low pay and high turnover have long been the reality for the ranks of direct care workers in home care settings and nursing homes. The pandemic has made it worse.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf first issued a disaster declaration in January 2018 after Pennsylvania set a record for opioid deaths, then renewed it more than a dozen times as the state battled an epidemic that has worsened during the coronavirus pandemic.
Gov. Tom Wolf has extended Pennsylvania’s opioid disaster declaration for a 15th time. To extend the declaration further, the legislature will have to come back from recess.
“Stay there, and ask for an explanation,” Graciela Araujo said. “People have to speak up and fight for their rights because we do have rights here. The vaccine is available for everyone—for everyone.”
Thousands of people are expected to get vaccinated every day in each location.
