Letter to the editor: Pandemic pay essential for essential workers

The approval of federal covid-19 response dollars for Westmoreland Manor workers could not have come soon enough (“Pandemic bonuses approved for Westmoreland Manor staff,” Oct. 21, TribLIVE). There is a major short-staffing crisis across the entire nursing home industry right now. It is imperative that available federal dollars go to providing living wages to our essential workers and reduce short-staffing before our workforce hollows out altogether.

I have worked as a licensed practical nurse at Westmoreland Manor for 17 years. The best way to keep our workers from leaving is to provide us the proper recognition and respect for our dedicated service through fair and living wages.

Any proposal to give middle management and senior executives at Westmoreland Manor financial bonuses instead of giving all the available federal tax dollars to our frontline workers is a gross misuse of what the American Rescue Plan federal funds were intended for. The time to invest in our nursing home workers is now.

Tammy Steban

Mt. Pleasant