CWA-Contributed Report Finds Severe Understaffing in Upstate New York Hospitals

A report released in December by the Fiscal Policy Institute that CWA contributed to highlighted for the wider public what New York’s healthcare workers have known and been sounding the alarm on for years: New York’s healthcare centers are severely understaffed.

The report found that 90% of Upstate New York hospital shifts are understaffed, and would require an increase of 25,000 healthcare workers to reach adequate levels needed to adequately serve their communities. Study after study - including this latest one - has shown that chronic understaffing leads to increased risks for both staff and patients, including a 14% increase in mortality risk for patients on the worst 10% of hospital units.

The report also found that a large portion of the staffing gaps could be filled by many trained and certified RNs who are not currently working as nurses in New York - while many employers try to cite “lack of workers” as a reason for the understaffing crisis, in reality the issue is a lack of good jobs, workplace protections, and fair pay and benefits to recruit and retain staff.

Read the full report here.