With billions of dollars to be cut by feds, WMass elder care centers brace for the squeeze
WILBRAHAM — The Social Security system under fire. Looming nursing staff shortages. Inability to pay for medical care.
While on a tour of the Life Care Center of Wilbraham on Monday afternoon, executives described what a possible future might look like without hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding for social services.
'We're always looking at how we can continue to provide these services,' said Dennis Lopata, the executive director of the nursing home facility that has been open for almost 34 years.
A majority of the Wilbraham center's clients — about 80% — pay for services with either Medicaid or Medicare, he said. 'We need them as much as they need us,' he said.
House Republicans recently passed a budget resolution that would slash $880 million from federal programs, including Medicare and Social Security benefits.
U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, who paid a visit to the center on Monday afternoon, said while the House GOP passed the resolution, the issue is nonpartisan.
'Red states derive a lot of Medicare patients,' he said. 'We're not going to let social services go by the wayside.'
Life Care Center is just one of several care facilities that predicts it will feel the squeeze of budget cuts.
While the COVID-19 pandemic brought a slew of challenges to nursing homes across the region and country, Lopata said the organization has been working hard to retain staff, including raising the wages.
The facility in Wilbraham now staffs 205 people, and more than 100 people receive care there, said Lopata.
'We've been offering certified nurse assistants (the opportunity) to attend trainings. We've been making progress,' said Tara Gregorio, president of the Massachusetts Senior Care Association. 'To now pull the rug out from under us — the threats are real and alarming."
Another looming concern is the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration.
'With (temporary protected status) ending, more than 2,000 of our centers' employees from Haiti will lose their jobs,' said Gregorio. 'This is profoundly concerning.'
Later in the afternoon, Neal spoke to a room of elderly people who live at the facility.
'This is a community. Nobody should be abandoned or left behind,' Neal said. 'The golden years should be lived out the way we want them to be.'
Last month, Neal visited Riverside Industries, a nonprofit organization in Easthampton working to empower people with disabilities, where clients and staff also were bracing for the proposed cuts.
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