A systemic lack of training in the Memory Care industry has led to abysmal conditions for patients
Recently an article was published in the New York Times exposing the darker side of memory care right here in Oregon. Low pay, short staffing, lack of training and high turnover led to substandard patient care The Rawlin, a memory care facility in Springfield, OR, with horrifying results:
At one point, Ms. Gregory [a caregiver at The Rawlin], who had recently recovered from Covid and had not yet regained her sense of smell, entered a room to find an elderly woman with large bedsores that had become infected. One of them was the size of a softball and deep enough to expose the bone. Ms. Gregory called a co-worker, 18-year-old Eric Holmes, into the room to help. When she left to continue rounds, the stench was so unbearable that the next resident she attended, a veteran, kicked her out of his room because she “smelled like Vietnam.”
One of the biggest challenges the caregivers faced in providing good care and protecting residents at The Rawlin was the lack of training and certification for memory care workers. Since they were not ‘certified’ workers, they had extremely high turnover with little to no training.
To strengthen the workforce in memory care, assisted living, and in home care agencies, SEIU is supporting Senate Bill 1556 during the current legislative session, and we need your help to get it passed. SB 1556 will help address our staffing crisis by providing a foundation for a career ladder to encourage job mobility and advancement for caregivers as well as increased transparency for consumers and their families.