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This past week marked the 5-year anniversary of the state’s COVID lockdown—and as SEIU Healthcare Executive VP Erica Bland put it in her Sun-Times op-ed on Thursday, “Far too many front-line (nursing home) workers, including members of our union, and the residents they cared for lost their lives to COVID.”

A significant percentage of Illinois nursing homes went into the pandemic short staffed, and—five years on—staffing levels have yet to improve. Despite the fact that nursing homes know how many direct care hours are required to meet resident needs, our research based on available state reports reveals that nearly one in five nursing homes is staffed below the legal minimum on most days.

This is despite the historic legislation that care advocates and our members fought to secure with groundbreaking safe staffing enforcement measures AND $240 million per year in additional funds for hiring more staff.

Left unaddressed, this care crisis is only going to get worse—the number of adults over 65 in Illinois is set to nearly double by 2060.

That’s why it’s crucial we pass HB 2507 which mandates that 90% of state funding received by nursing homes for care actually goes into direct care.

Addressing dangerously low staffing levels can’t wait. And for the many seniors currently going without needed services—Care Can’t Wait. Support HB 2507.