The Illinois Nurses Association and various state agencies, including the Illinois Department of Human Services, which oversees the facility, are negotiating a new contract for nurses working at the Elisabeth Ludeman Developmental Center in Park Forest after the previous one expired June 30.
Ludeman nurses say they want a contract that ensures safe working environments; safe staffing ratios for nurses, which includes filling seven vacant positions; consistent contract enforcement; proper pay for time worked; proper technology for on-demand access to individual’s health information; and for the facility to follow state guidelines on use of technology in long-term care centers, said Marika Loftman-Davis, a registered nurse and union steward.
For example, the center still uses paper for medical records, Loftman-Davis said, but to follow the state guideline, the center should have computers or other technology to keep electronic medical records. She also said the administrators have not followed the seniority-based hiring process, giving employees who have worked longest consideration for promotions, that was listed in the contract.
“We’re dedicated to the community and we’re dedicated to the individuals,” Loftman-Davis said. “Taxpayer money is not being managed properly, is not going to provide care for the needs of these individuals.”
Ludeman Center administrators did not respond to requests for comment.
In a statement, an Illinois Department of Human Services spokesman said contract negotiations are ongoing and that both parties “share a common interest in addressing staffing, hiring, and providing key services and supports for our patients and residents.”
State Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Frankfort, said Tuesday he is aware of the negotiations and hopes the nurses and state can reach a fair contract, especially after the nurses faced a particularly challenging time working amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They do hard work over there, and it’s needed work, and people deserve a fair wage,” Hastings said. “They just have a very challenging job. Given the cost of everything in the country, I am hopeful the state will do right by the employees.”
Loftman-Davis said when she started working at the Ludeman Center, a state-run center for adults with developmental disabilities, about nine years ago, the center had more cohesive functioning.
But over the years there has been a shift from serving older residents with developmental disabilities to include younger residents with a variety of acute mental illnesses that require more resources, such as trained staff, the Ludeman Center does not have, Loftman-Davis said.
The shift has created an unsafe work environment for nurses and led to many, including Loftman-Davis, being attacked and assaulted while on the job, she said. The center’s management knows about the attacks through various reports, she said, but has not addressed ways to minimize injury, including proper training for staff or hiring properly trained staff.
“Unfortunately, with the injuries, there haven’t been any notable changes to ensure that the injuries stop or to ensure heightened safety for our nurses,” Loftman-Davis said. “When nurses are injured, then they’re out of the count so you’re changing the continuity of care and you’re leveraging a higher workload over a smaller amount of nurses.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the center had the largest recorded outbreak at any long-term care facility in the state, according to Illinois Department of Public Health data.
In June 2020, 348 Ludeman Center residents and staff had contracted COVID-19 and 11 died of their infections, according to data from the state Human Services Department. By comparison, 317 residents and staff tested positive for COVID-19 at the other six state-operated developmental centers combined, and three of those residents died, according to Illinois Department of Public Health data.
The state brought in nurses through a staffing agency, who are nurses hired on a short-term contract basis to assist facilities that are short staffed, to help care for the residents, Loftman-Davis said. Now, those nurses “are being leveraged against” Ludeman nurses for overtime hours and infection control care positions, she said.
“There’s no transition plan in place even though the nurses have been voicing our eagerness, our readiness and our ability to provide that care,” Loftman-Davis said. “We are being refused the opportunity to work in that capacity. When there are overtime hours, our nurses are being refused the opportunity to work some overtime hours for agency nurses.”
Dorothy Bassey, a nurse at the center, said during the pandemic the agency nurses helped provide care for the individuals, and still do. Agency nurses earn more than Ludeman nurses, she said, which means while all the nurses worked during the pandemic, Ludeman nurses received lower pay.
“If you want to keep agency nurses, fine. Pay us what you’re paying them. Match the money,” Bassey said. “At the end of the day, it’s the individual that matters most here.”
Union nurses make between $5,169 to $9,290 a month, depending on nurse classification, according to the contract. Agency nurses make double what union nurses make, said Illinois Nurses Association union representative Margo Gislain.
The nurses also want the administration to stop calling Park Forest police for parking violations, which results in a $50 parking ticket when a nurse parks outside an individuals home for emergency care, Loftman-Davis said.
The 60-acre campus has a circular drive that goes around the entire facility, Loftman-Davis said, and there are parking lots throughout the facility. But she said it is common for nurses to park right outside the home during an emergency to save time and help a patient.
“We have voiced our concerns to administration, and the answer is, ‘If you park in front of the homes you will get a ticket,'” Loftman-Davis said.
Park Forest police Chief Brian Rzyski said the department often receives complaints about vehicles parked in no parking zones. But, he said he cannot provide information about who owned or drove the cars.
Ultimately, Loftman-Davis said she hopes the administration and the union can agree on a fair contract.
“We want the contract to show value to the dedicated work that we provide as nurses,” Loftman-Davis said. “Even though, to some people, this vulnerable population might be invisible, they are in our hearts. We know them. We stand with their families. We stand with their guardians to advocate for their best health outcomes.”
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