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BOROUGH PRESIDENT COMMENDS NURSING HOME WORKERS AT QUALITY CARE CONFERENCE

Photographs by Kathryn Kirk

In photo: Borough President Markowitz greets representatives from the Cobble Hill Nursing Home.

SEIU 1199 Nursing Home Workers Hold Quality Care Conference

“As someone who is gradually, and gracefully I hope, approaching my own golden years, I have more insight than ever into the enormous value and importance of our nursing homes and nursing home workers,” said Borough President Markowitz. “I especially want to thank those of you who provide hands-on care. I know that your jobs are very demanding, both physically and mentally demanding. And I know that you strive each day to provide the highest quality care and the best possible service to those in nursing homes — individuals who are most often in a very vulnerable state. The work that you do is sometimes under-appreciated, but I assure you that Brooklyn’s residents and our health care system rely on your stability and your resolve as much as we rely on the strength and stability of our Brooklyn Bridge.”

On Wednesday, April 20, the Borough President welcomed hundreds of nursing home workers and their managers to the SEIU 1199 Quality Care Conference at the Brooklyn Marriott. The conference, presented by 1199’s Quality Care Committee, is part of a joint labor management movement to change how care is delivered in nursing homes, how society views and supports nursing homes and the elderly, and how to better value and recognize caregivers. The committee, created in 2001 as part of the contract between nursing home employers and 1199 in New York, focuses on enhancing teamwork skills, staff recruitment and retention, and communication.