At least six members of Health Professionals and Allied Employees have died from the virus. Protective gear shortages remain as New Jersey reopens and braces for a possible resurgence, union members said.
“If we are not safe, neither are our patients,” said Debbie White, union president, at a virtual news conference.
A union report based on a survey of 1,085 HPAE members at 26 hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities found that more than half of respondents said they had been exposed to COVID-19 at work. A third of respondents said their employer informed them of the exposure.
Of more than 200 union members reporting COVID-19 complications, two-thirds said they didn’t have proper PPE when caring for COVID-19 patients. Three-quarters said they had to reuse N95 masks, and nine-tenths said they were never taught how to decontaminate PPE for reuse.
Almost a quarter of those surveyed said they had to return to work before they had fully recovered, Ms. White said.
Ms. White said the head of a local union chapter said, “We feel disposable.”
The report was dedicated to the memory of the six union members who died of COVID-19: Nagi Abraham, Susan Cicala, Maria Luisa Lopez, Nancy Martell, Alfredo Pabatao and George Cisnero.
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