Walkout planned at 21 Pa. nursing homes

Unionized nursing home workers at 21 Pennsylvania facilities are scheduled to walk off the job July 27 in a one-day protest over staffing, wages and contract talks.

The walkout, organized by SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, is set to involve 300 workers at facilities in Western Pennsylvania, including three operated by an affiliate of Jefferson County-based Varischetti Holdings LP. Peter C. Varischetti, a University of Pittsburgh trustee, is president.

Varischetti subsidiary Guardian Healthcare, of Brockway, operates Beaver Elder Care & Rehabilitation Center in Aliquippa, Uniontown Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center and Oil City Healthcare & Rehabilitation, which are among eight skilled care facilities in Western Pennsylvania that have been targeted for the walkout. Others include Premier Washington Health Center, Murrysville Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, and the Grove at Harmony.

In a statement, Guardian Healthcare said that it has contingency plans in case of a work stoppage.

“We are troubled that the SEIU is using our invaluable team of caregivers in an attempt to manipulate the negotiation process,” the statement said. “We have offered to negotiate with the SEIU around the clock to avoid any interruption of the provision of quality care at our sites, but the SEIU has refused all such offers at this time.”

All of the affected nursing homes have labor agreements that expired June 30 except one in Philadelphia where the oneday walkout is planned, said union spokeswoman Karen Applegate Gownley.

SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania President Matthew Yarnell said the walkout was a sign of how difficult working conditions had become, partly as a result of the pandemic. SEIU Healthcare represents about 45,000 nurses, aides and other health care workers in Pennsylvania.

“When workers decide to go on strike, that’s a very clear indication of just how bad things are,” he said. “They have been demanding change for decades and then watched as their residents, co-workers and own families died of COVID-19.”

Two of the Guardian nursing homes have had licensing issues in recent years.

In February, 2020, Guardian Elder Care Holdings Inc. and related companies agreed to pay the federal government $15.5 million to settle whistleblower complaints that it provided unnecessary rehab services to some patients to maximize revenue between 2011 and 2017. And, in October 2019, the Uniontown facility paid $7,705 to the state to settle violations related to a patient falling out of bed and breaking an arm.

Guardian Healthcare runs more than 55 facilities in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Skilled care, physical rehabilitation and home care are among the company’s businesses.