SYRACUSE, NY \u2014 Healthcare workers and leaders in Central New York are warning that services and jobs could be at risk if state lawmakers do not address a major Medicaid funding gap before the next budget deadline.<\/p>\n
At Crouse Hospital on Friday, caregivers, union leaders and elected officials called the situation a \u201cCode Red,\u201d urging State leaders to close a $2 billion shortfall tied to federal cuts under H.R.1.<\/p>\n
According to union leaders, nearly 119,000 people in Onondaga County rely on Medicaid for their healthcare coverage. Without additional state funding, they say hospitals, nursing homes and clinics across the region could be forced to scale back services or face financial strain.<\/p>\n
Schenise Stevens, a geriatric caregiver, said the impact is already being felt on the front lines.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout the people we can\u2019t even do the basics,\u201d Stevens said.<\/p>\n
She noted staffing shortages can directly affect patient care, especially in home-care settings where time is limited and responsibilities are high.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I have an hour to do someone and you add more people, I have to find a shortcut just to make sure medications are correct and the person is cared for,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t have the time to do it, it directly affects the patient, the worker and the facility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Union leaders say the issue extends beyond individual facilities, warning that continued funding gaps could impact wages, benefits and the ability to recruit and retain healthcare workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the final budget does not fully close the $2 billion gap before April 1, instability will continue for healthcare facilities across New York,\u201d said Kevin Lockhart, vice president of 1199SEIU.<\/p>\n
Organizers say without action, safety-net providers could face unsustainable deficits, putting access to care at risk for seniors, veterans and working families across Central New York.<\/p>\n
The New York state budget is due April 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SYRACUSE, NY \u2014 Healthcare workers and leaders in Central New York are warning that services and jobs could…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-536420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}