Dunkirk — Dozens gathered under a tiny shelter outside Dunkirk Rehabilitation and Nursing Monday morning to sound the alarm about the impending healthcare crisis putting hospitals and nursing homes at risk of closure in the southern tier.
Workers and leaders discussed recently closed facilities, eliminated services, and potential impending closures risking care for all residents regardless of party affiliation. A sign highlighted the crisis, displaying closed hospitals and nursing homes and many at risk of closure.
1199SEIU, the Nation’s largest healthcare union, representing over 400,000 union members, retirees, and their families throughout New York State, has endorsed Aaron Gies for Congress in New York’s 23rd Congressional District.
The endorsement was announced at a press conference at Dunkirk Nursing and Rehabilitation Monday morning. Gies spoke alongside health care workers and union leaders.
“Healthcare is not a luxury,” said 1199SEIU Administrative Organizer Cheryl Marino. “190,000 people in this district depend on Medicare and Medicaid. Rural hospitals depend on this funding to survive. It’s time to vote for those who understand the critical crisis that the healthcare industry is facing right now. That is why 1199 members have voted to endorse Aaron Gies for Congress.”
“I thank 1199SEIU for their endorsement”, said Gies. “The healthcare sector is the largest employer in the district, and one of the few parts of our troubled job market that is still growing. Healthcare workers deserve to make a decent living, support their families, and retire with dignity.”
Two licensed practical nurses who work in rural nursing homes commented on the impact that cuts from the “Big Ugly Bill” have had on nursing home workers and their residents.
“We take a lot of pride and joy as caregivers to take care of our people here”, said Rebecca Ramirez. “These drastic cuts are negatively affecting the ways we can care for our residents. This is their home.”
“We are devastated by these budget cuts,” Lindsey Mead added. “When other facilities close, those residents lose their home, the nursing staff they trust, their routine, and their families have to drive longer to visit them.”
Aaron Gies outlined where he differs from his opponent.
“Nick Langworthy has made his position crystal clear,” said Gies. “He is for disinvestment. He is for private profit at the expense of the common good. He is for the urban elites at the expense of our rural working-class district. He funds his campaign with big checks from the very insurance companies bankrupting you and nursing home owners who want to overwork and underpay their employees.”
Gies said, “When elected, I will vote to reverse these job-killing, community-killing cuts on day one.”
He added: “I will work to build a system where every family has a doctor, where we no longer have to go bankrupt in order to die with dignity, where we don’t have to pay insurance companies tens of thousands of dollars a year just for the right to get sick, and where greedy corporations can no longer pad their profits by short-changing their patients and overworking their employees.”
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