Coronavirus: What you need to know
Healthcare workers across the country are responding to the unfolding public health emergency caused by the new SARS-CoV-2 virus, and the highly contagious respiratory disease, COVID-19, caused in 20% of those infected.
Look to these pages for resources and responses as HPAE, AFT and unions across the country work to fight for safeguards to our own health and the health of our communities.
News
‘Chilling’ findings in survey of NJ nurses (video)
They were hailed as heroes during the pandemic and helped bring the state through the public health crisis. Now a new survey shows many nurses in New Jersey have considered leaving the job and say a statewide staffing shortage is
Murphy lifts COVID-19 testing requirements but not vaccine mandates. Here’s why.
After Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday that New Jersey will no longer require COVID-19 testing for unvaccinated school and child care employees, state workers, and state contractors, only a few major government-imposed coronavirus restrictions remain across the state.
The exodus: COVID traumatized a generation of N.J. nurses. Many are in crisis and leaving the field.
Nurses across New Jersey were walloped when the pandemic arrived, swept up in a vortex of death and trauma and grief. Witnessing death is part of the job.
Violence Against Health Care Workers In New Jersey Hospitals Rose Over Last 3 Years: Survey (video)
A new survey from the New Jersey Hospital Association says health care employees have experienced an increase in violence over the past three years. That physical and verbal abuse in hospitals comes mainly from patients.
Frontline health workers face increased violence, harassment — mostly from patients
Hailed as heroes two years ago, frontline health care workers in New Jersey are now facing growing levels of verbal threats, harassment and workplace violence — most of it from patients under their care.
NJ Unions Hit the Bricks for Hazard Pay
The number of workers’petitions seeking union representation filed with the National Labor Relations Board has jumped 57 percent for the first six months of Fiscal Year 2022 to 1,174.
NJ Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee Statement of Barbara Rosen, RN, HPAE First Vice President
In Support of A.3199 “The Health Care Heroes Violence Prevention Act”
Thank you, Chairman Spearman and the members of the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee, for the opportunity to speak on this important matter. I am here today testifying in favor of A.3199 known as the Health Care Heroes Violence Prevention Act.
Respect, Protect and Support All Nurses
It is worth pointing out that as vital as our nurses have been during this pandemic, this noble profession did not just deserve recognition during the pandemic. Nurses have always deserved our respect.
University Hospital, a lifeline during COVID, asks for help to protect its future
Many hospital emergency rooms are crowded on the weekends. But at University Hospital in Newark, Mondays can also get so overwhelming at the state’s only public hospital, that the ER staff calls it: “Medical Mondays.”
Newark’s Deadly Garment Fire Blaze Triangle’s Ignored Harbinger
This Friday marks the 111th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in lower Manhattan that killed 146 mostly young immigrant female garment workers who found themselves trapped because the factory owners had locked exits ... to keep out union organizers.
Healthcare Union Offering Free Training, Workshops for Mental Health
The Health Professionals and Allied Employees union, New Jersey’s largest union for nurses and other healthcare professionals, is inviting members of the public to participate in a free series of virtual under the umbrella title “Moving Forward Getting Stronger.”
Program brings mental health care to NJ essential workers (video)
Ana Delgado, a registered nurse at Rutgers University, knows all about the emotional and mental strain of COVID-19.
Covid Still Threatens Millions of Americans. Why Are We So Eager to Move On?
As a result, these Americans who are at high risk are speaking out about being left behind as the rest of society drops pandemic safeguards such as masking and physical distancing.
COVID-19 Cases and Deaths by Race/Ethnicity: Current Data and Changes Over Time
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, analyses of federal, state, and local data have shown that people of color have experienced a disproportionate burden of cases and deaths.
Travel nurses have rescued N.J. hospitals. But have they come at too high a price?
Critical staff shortages have plagued many New Jersey hospitals. Travel nurses have helped fill the gaps, and in some cases, have prevented facilities from being overwhelmed during the delta and omicron waves.
Some workers lose benefits after a nursing home is sold. N.J. lawmakers just voted to protect them.
Companies that buy health care businesses like nursing homes in New Jersey would have to maintain the salary and benefits package of the workforce for six months under a bill approved by a Senate committee Thursday.
Some N.J. health workers weigh quitting over new vaccine mandate. Will it escalate the staffing crisis?
New Jersey hospital systems and health care unions say the vast majority of their employees are vaccinated due to largely pro-vaccine attitudes and a number of previous government and corporate mandates.
Right now, nursing is broken
When I can get out and run my errands, I see people who aren’t taking precautions to protect themselves, and it’s frustrating because, inside the hospitals, health professionals are in crisis mode.
Military medical team headed to N.J. hospital struggling with omicron, staff shortages
New Jersey’s only public acute-care hospital is among six around the country slated to receive a military medical team to help address a surge in COVID-19 patients and staff shortages.
Health care workers are panicked as desperate hospitals ask infected staff to return
Hospitals and long-term care facilities are so short staffed that many are compelling Covid-positive doctors and nurses to return to work, arguing that bringing back asymptomatic or even symptomatic staff is the only way they can keep ...
Healthcare Workers Feel the Lash of Letting COVID
Donald Trump may have lost the election, but his laissez-faire worldview that believes commerce takes precedence over protecting workers’ health in the midst of a global pandemic has carried the day.
Health care workers struggle amid staffing shortage, COVID-19 surge and burnout
Hospitals are struggling to keep up staffing levels amid recent spikes in COVID-19-related hospitalizations and an exodus of nurses and other health care workers.
Weary nurses urge return to public-health mandates as omicron peaks
Hospitals in New Jersey have been struggling with staffing shortages for weeks. Patient numbers have grown quickly and the omicron variant has infected record numbers of workers, thinning their ranks at the bedside and behind the scenes.
Health care workers: We’re traumatized and feel abandoned
Once again, health care workers are feeling abandoned by the very people who should be supportive of them.
By watering down COVID self-isolation period, CDC defers to commerce
The CDC's decision to halve the self-isolation period for COVID-positive healthcare workers and the rest of the essential workforce is being roundly condemned by the unions that represent that workforce and the occupational health experts they trust.
A Fractured Nation Fights a Killer Virus
Even as we prepare for the Christmas holiday and New Year’s celebration that are just a couple of weeks away our state, region and nation are facing yet another spike of COVID infections, hospitalizations and death.
Temp agencies “poach” nurses, worsen hospital staff shortages (video)
More fallout from The Great Resignation: New Jersey hospitals are fighting over new staffers — while struggling to pay temps hired at extremely high salaries from agencies. One healthcare union head reports an “exodus” of nurses and other workers seeking
230+ NJ hospital workers let go for refusing COVID-19 vaccine (video)
The South Jersey health care system Virtua Health says 120 staff members “exited” employment after refusing to obey a COVID-19 vaccination mandate. Virtua joins RWJ Barnabas, which fired 118 staffers across dozens of facilities Monday
Will N.J. hospitals face a nursing shortage under vaccine mandates? They already are.
The dearth of workers is an urgent threat in an industry that was already wrestling with staffing shortages, a tight labor market, and pandemic-related burnout and trauma.
Healthcare workers respond to vaccine mandates in their facilities
The mandate issued by Governor Murphy yesterday does not change our response to the issue of mandatory vaccination. As a union, we have the right to bargain our hours, wages and working conditions and this is no different.
As delta variant spreads, so does risk to workers
So far in 2021, the New Jersey offices of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have conducted 32 COVID-19-related fatality and catastrophe inspections, according to Joanna Hawkins, a spokeswoman for the agency.
NJ health care workers required to get COVID vaccines by Sept. 7 — or test weekly
Every health care worker in New Jersey's private and public health care facilities, along with those who work at state prisons and county jails, will be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by Sept. 7, or get tested once or
HPAE Statement on Gov. Murphy mandating healthcare workers vaccination
HPAE supports the Governor's decision to create a pathway to increase vaccination rates while enforcing routine testing of those who are not able to be vaccinated.
NJ health care unions say yes to COVID vaccines, but call mandating them a step too far
The union members have seen the deadly effects of COVID-19 up close, and many became infected themselves earlier in the pandemic. But compulsory vaccination is a step too far, union leaders say.
To mandate or not to mandate? The COVID vaccine question heats up in N.J. hospitals
While some hospital networks like RWJBarnabas Health are mandating vaccinations, many others have formulated voluntary policies, despite encouraging immunization among their employees. Here’s where the state’s biggest health systems and organizations stand...
Frontline burnout: NJ’s health care workers grapple with post-pandemic stress
The state’s hospitals and health care workers up and down the line have been coming to grips with a post-pandemic world and the new problems it presents.
As COVID-19 continues, so do troubles for nurses
For years, nurses in New Jersey have raised concerns about workforce shortages and staffing levels they believe put patients and employees in danger.
Frontline Health Care Workers Aren’t Feeling the ‘Summer of Joy’: Doctors and nurses are reeling from new Covid cases, staff burnout and the prolonged stress of dealing with the pandemic
A largely unmasked nation will celebrate the nation’s return to near-normalcy this weekend with a ticker-tape parade in New York City, a dazzling fireworks display over the Washington Monument and countless Independence Day gatherings in cities and towns across the
Rutgers, unions spar over mandatory vaccines for health care workers
Rutgers Health will require its health care workers to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 moving forward, the school announced Monday, triggering a potential showdown with organized labor groups that have opposed mandatory inoculations.
HPAE Statement on hospitals mandating healthcare workers vaccination
Healthcare workers—including HPAE members—have been on the front lines taking care of patients sick from COVID-19, its variants and after-effects of the disease.
Labor Department Issues Emergency Rules to Protect Health Care Workers From Covid
Labor Department officials on Thursday announced a temporary emergency standard to protect health care workers, saying they face “grave danger” in the workplace from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
HPAE Statement on New OSHA ETS
Throughout the pandemic, more needed to be done to protect healthcare workers and other essential workers, many of whom are women, people of color and immigrants, who put their lives on the line every day in the past year.
Unions are horrified at the mask mandate rollback — and fear workers’ lives are at risk again
On May 13, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted the indoor mask mandate for people who say they are vaccinated...Yet public health experts and unions alike were horrified.
HPAE Statement on Gov. Murphy’s response to new CDC guidance on face coverings and social distancing for vaccinated people
HPAE still recommends masking indoors and social distancing as necessary measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 and its variants. We want to ensure that we continue the downward trending of numbers of new infections, hospitalizations, and deaths.
President Debbie White’s Letter to Gov. Murphy on new CDC Mask Mandate
We are writing to applaud your announcement that NJ will maintain an indoor masking mandate despite the new CDC guidance that fully vaccinated people could go without face coverings and social distancing.
As pandemic recedes, NJ’s hospital workers are still getting sick — and dying — from COVID
As COVID cases spiked earlier this year and began to wane in the spring, New Jersey hospital workers remained at high risk of contracting the virus.
HPAE 2021 International Workers’ Memorial Day Statement
On this International Workers' Memorial Day, we take a moment to honor the memory of HPAE members we lost to workplace acquired COVID-19 infections during this most difficult of years.
How the powerful NJ hospital interests beat back stronger health laws during COVID
Long before sick and dying COVID-19 patients inundated New Jersey’s hospitals, it was common for nurses in certain units — such as emergency departments — to miss breaks or even skip using the bathroom on their 12-hour shifts.
NJ should use budget surplus and rebuild health care to avoid grim post-COVID aftermath
New Jersey should use its budget surplus to help rebuild a health care system that saw its flaws exposed during the pandemic, a report by an advocacy group and trade organization says.
Pandemic safety the top priority as NJ health care workers’ unions enter contract talks
The COVID pandemic has made safety a top bargaining issue for health care workers as unions representing thousands of employees at New Jersey’s hospitals, home care agencies and nursing homes head to the bargaining table this year.
N.J.’s largest nurses union filed 24 worker safety complaints during pandemic
The state’s largest nurse and health care worker union filed 24 complaints over employee safety violations during the pandemic, and will seek a larger role through contract negotiations in determining how hospitals...
State’s largest nurses union calls for worker safety during contract negotiations
The fight continues for health workers demanding better protections on the job. Many wrote to NJ Spotlight News a year ago after using homemade personal protective equipment to report to work, their facilities caught off guard.
Historic Negotiations with Lessons Learned from Pandemic
Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE), the union representing 14,000 nurses and healthcare workers, are entering negotiations with an overarching focus on worker and patient safety measures, safe staffing, and infectious disease preparedness.
Doing their job should not have cost them their lives
Healthcare workers have endured physical and emotional trauma, during the past year and yet the pandemic continues to take a toll.
New studies show COVID-19 vaccines protect health care workers and their households (video)
New studies show that, even as cases of COVID-19 surged in the general population, infections among vaccinated health care workers dropped significantly.
NJ doesn’t know how many health care workers died of COVID. Why that number is crucial
Thousands of fading lawn signs honor the sacrifices of our “health care heroes,” but no one knows how many made the ultimate sacrifice. Not the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Not New Jersey’s Department of Health.
They went to the hospital and came home with COVID. Hospital outbreaks have affected hundreds, state says.
At 96 years old, Edward J. Miller was defying his age — living alone, cooking his meals, and never missing a Fanwood Veterans Day parade or other veterans’ event. As recently as September, he was steering a boat across a
Exclusive: Most U.S. firms hit with COVID-19 safety fines aren’t paying up
U.S. workplace safety regulators have announced more than $4 million in penalties on more than 300 employers they say put workers at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anger over transparency missing from bill on health worker COVID-19 data (video)
After waiting months for a bill that was supposed to shed light on coronavirus infections and deaths among health care workers, advocates for the workers argue that the bill was gutted once Trenton lobbyists got their hands on it.
Health Workers and Hospitals Grapple With Millions of Counterfeit N95 Masks
Thousands of counterfeit 3M respirators have slipped past U.S. investigators in recent months, making it to the cheeks and chins of health care workers and perplexing experts who say their quality is not vastly inferior to the real thing.
After lobbyists step in, a health workers’ COVID transparency bill is gutted. How it changed
Hospital lobbyists met with the bill’s primary sponsor and legislative aides several times last year pushing for changes to the bill that would have required daily reporting on the Department of Health’s website of COVID’s impact on health care workers..
Hospitals, nursing homes will have to track COVID cases, death among its workforce under new N.J. law
Hospitals, surgery centers, long-term care facilities and home healthcare agencies must collect the number of COVID-19 cases and fatalities among their employees and report them on a bimonthly basis to the state Department of Health.
HPAE Statement on Gov. Murphy signing the COVID-19 Workplace Data law
HPAE healthcare workers applaud Governor Murphy's insistence that frontline caregivers need to be at the front of the vaccine line, so they can continue to safely provide care for COVID-19 patients.
Hospital Excellence
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, New Jersey healthcare institutions and employees deliver award-winning, high-quality services.
COVID vaccine ‘isn’t the flu shot’: Vaccinators explain why NJ rollout is slow
Demand far outstrips supply currently. The state has been allocated far fewer doses than the number of people who want them. More than a million have registered for the vaccine at covidvaccine.nj.gov, while about 600,000 vaccine doses have been received
HPAE Statement on Gov. Murphy’s 2021 State-of-the-State Address
The vision the governor laid out today in his state-of-the-state address is a continuation of his steadfast leadership of New Jersey in a time of global pandemic that has hit New Jersey particularly hard.
COVID vaccine acceptance high among NJ hospital workers. Here’s how many have gotten shots
For hospitals, the first New Jersey institutions to inject the COVID vaccine into the arms of their employees, the rollout has been an emotional experience and a logistical challenge. They’ve engineered new websites, carved out space and redeployed staff.
Camden County prepares first COVID-19 vaccination center (video)
The only thing missing? Vaccines. Now that health care workers, nursing home residents and first responders are being inoculated against the coronavirus, the state is well into the first phase of the vaccine program.
‘It decimated our staff’: Covid ravages Black and brown health workers in US
Covid-19 has taken an outsized toll on Black and Hispanic Americans – and those disparities extend to medical workers
HPAE Statement on NJHA requiring its members to collect workplace COVID data
We are pleased to hear that the New Jersey Hospital Association has finally agreed to collect data on the number of healthcare workers who have contracted COVID.
N.J. hospitals, nursing homes could soon be required to report COVID-19 cases, fatalities among workers
The coronavirus has infected 419,000 people in New Jersey and claimed the lives of at least 16,200, according to state data. Nurses, doctors and other medical professionals are among the tally, but no one is keeping track of just how
HPAE statement on Healthcare workers workplace COVID exposure data bill
HPAE’s 14,000 members are grateful to our legislators for passing a law mandating that hospitals track and report data regarding coronavirus infection among hospital workers to the Department of Health.
Meet the nurse who was the first person in N.J. to get a COVID-19 vaccine
Beniquez was the first of 80 healthcare workers slated to receive their first dose of the vaccine at University Hospital on Tuesday, the beginning of the state’s latest chapter in fighting a virus that has killed more than 17,000 of
HPAE Statements on UH nurse receiving the first COVID-19 vaccine
Healthcare workers have faced greater risks and rates of exposure throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We are grateful that an HPAE nurse, working in the Emergency Room at University Hospital, was the first to be vaccinated in New Jersey.
Statement of President Debbie White, RN, before the NJ Assembly Appropriations Committee, Tuesday, December 15, 2020
I am here today to speak to A.4129 sponsored by Assemblyman Spearman which will track data on healthcare workers who are exposed, fallen ill and have died due to COVID-19. While we are not pleased with the amendments to the
NJ.com Special Report: Crossroads of a plague
The worst pandemic in a century has ravaged Newark and its Black community. It was a tragedy decades in the making.
Union wants New Jersey hospitals to report employee COVID-19 infections
As the number of COVID-19 cases surge in the Garden State, front line medical workers are also getting sick. And now, a health care workers union is calling on the state to track hospital outbreaks (video).
Murphy indicates he could make info on COVID outbreaks among hospital staff public
The Murphy administration may step in to force hospitals to report COVID-19 outbreaks among staff as legislation requiring the public disclosure remains stalled in the state capital.
No one knows how many N.J. medical workers have COVID-19. That needs to change, nurses union says.
Health Professionals and Allied Employees, the union that represents 14,000 nurses in New Jersey, called on the state Monday to change that and require hospitals to track sick workers.
Healthcare workers demand changes to NJ COVID Daily Dashboard and call on lawmakers to hold hospitals accountable for healthcare workers COVID-19 outbreaks
Healthcare workers and allies joined HPAE President Debbie White, RN, at a news conference on Monday to call on the state of New Jersey to report the number of COVID positive healthcare workers in hospitals and to hold the industry
Should NJ hospitals be required to tell public about staff COVID-19 outbreaks?
The scope of staff sickness, absence and deaths at New Jersey hospitals due to COVID-19 remains unknown nine months into the pandemic, despite concerns that a reduced workforce may hamper the hospitals’ ability to absorb a rising wave of sick patients.
NJ Hospitals Dealing With COVID-19 Outbreaks Among Staff
As many as 40 employees at Palisades Medical Center have gotten sick from COVID-19 and more than 100 employees at Ocean Medical Center have also tested positive. NBC New York’s Gilma Avalos reports (video)
COVID-19 outbreak at Palisades Medical Center prompts ER diversions, patient transfers
About 30 to 40 employees at Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen have tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the hospital to transfer some patients and divert ambulances to other emergency rooms, according to a union official and a hospital executive.
New Jersey 7-day COVID average highest since outbreak began (video)
"It feels as if we are on a railroad track watching a speeding train hurtling toward us, knowing it will eventually hit us," said HPAE President Debbie White, RN. "What is quickly becoming clear to us is that this surge
As COVID-19 surges in N.J., frontline workers are calling it quits: ‘I don’t want to gamble with my life.’
Michele Burlington survived the first wave of the coronavirus on the front lines, working in a hospital’s packed COVID-19 unit. But she wasn’t going to risk the second wave. Even if it meant giving up her career of 42 years.
Virtua hospital in clash with staff over request to work with COVID-19
Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli says complaint by union is under investigation
HPAE Statement on COVID-19 resurgence concerns
A second COVID-19 surge is now upon us here in New Jersey. It feels as if we are on a railroad track watching a speeding train hurtling toward us, knowing it will eventually hit us. Cases are trending up so
In NJ, wary health care workers want more data on COVID-19 vaccine
Frontline workers are in line to receive the first round of an estimated 100,000 vaccine doses (video).
‘How do you ever truly recover from seeing so much death?’ Anguished nurses face the pandemic’s second wave
The state reported 3,207 new cases Saturday — the highest number of daily positive tests since April 27, around the peak of the initial outbreak — and 1,392 hospitalizations, the most since June 11.
NJBIZ Oped: A seat at the table- In the battle against the COVID-19 resurgence
In the battle against the COVID-19 resurgence, quality care and safe working conditions in every health care facility should be a priority
Health-care workers file lawsuit against OSHA, accusing agency of failing to keep them safe
Unions representing hundreds of thousands of nurses and health-care workers filed a lawsuit against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Thursday, alleging that the agency is violating its duties to keep workers safe by failing to issue an infectious-disease
N.J. hospitals are better at treating COVID-19. But are they ready for a second wave?
Still, some officials fear a lack of PPE if another wave occurs. Debbie White, the president of the Health Professionals and Allied Employees, a union representing 14,000 nurses and front-line caregivers statewide, said PPE shortages remain a concern.
Statement of Debbie White, RN and HPAE President regarding Governor Murphy signing S2712 and S2785 to provide protection for residents and workers in Long Term Care facilities
This new law is a testament to the dedicated fight by our labor allies and other advocates for the elderly, to address these long-standing staffing issues.
HPAE President Debbie White interviewed in NJ Spotlight about rising COVID-19 census
No one anticipates the same surge of patients that flooded hospitals last spring, but health care leaders in New Jersey said they are taking steps to ensure proper resources are in place to care for rising numbers of coronavirus cases
A new wave of coronavirus is coming to N.J. Here’s why things might be different this time around.
Since before the state got the first coronavirus crisis under control, health experts and government officials have been warning of a second wave. They weren’t exactly sure when it would come, but they were sure that it would.
Two Hudson hospitals are cited, fined by OSHA for COVID-19 violations
Two hospitals in Hudson County have been cited by a federal agency for COVID-19 related health and safety violations, officials said.
OSHA fines 14 NJ hospitals, nursing homes for lack of PPE and other failures during COVID
Fourteen health care institutions in New Jersey, including hospitals, nursing homes and an ambulance company, have been cited by the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration for failing to provide enough equipment and other protections...
Employer Safety Violation List
HPAE will post all relevant documents here. If you have any concerns regarding safety protocols in your workplace, please contact your local officers or HPAE staff representative.
Emergency room worker leaves void at hospital after Covid death
The halls of the Hackensack Meridian Health Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, New Jersey, do not sound the same without Nancy Martell’s voice echoing down the corridor — a morning staple there for 18 years.
Second Covid-19 wave could turn cracks in the hospital system into ‘earthquakes’
There were 300 patients being treated for Covid-19, filling hospital rooms and spilling out into the halls of the emergency room. The trauma center, once used for gunshot wounds and car crash victims, was now filled with people on ventilators.
University Hospital helped during COVID-19. Now, we need to support this facility.
University Hospital in Newark was front and center as the premier academic medical center responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hospital performed the function it always has for our state: it cared for and treated everyone who walked in through
Essential workers who have coronavirus get help with benefits (video)
During the health emergency, essential workers no longer have to prove they contracted the coronavirus on the job to qualify for workers’ compensation benefits. Gov. Phil Murphy signed it into law Monday, retroactive to March 9.
HPAE President Debbie White, RN, thanks Gov. Murphy for signing into law Workers’ Compensation Reform for Essential Workers who Contract COVID-19
In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers who were exposed, infected and sickened by the virus faced an additional worry: whether they would qualify for workers' compensation benefits.
Hackensack Meridian fined for COVID-19 mask violations at nursing home
A Hackensack Meridian nursing home was cited by federal regulators for failing to give its nursing staff the proper masks to treat COVID-19 residents near the height of the pandemic, according to documents released Thursday.
OSHA issues citations against Hackensack Meridian for COVID-19 violations following investigation of long-term care worker death
This action by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the first citation of its kind nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic.
NJ Could Be First In East Coast To Let Undocumented Immigrants Get Professional Licenses (Audio)
New Jersey licenses more than 200 professions including boxers, manicurists, electricians, nurses, and teachers. But most applications ask for a social security number or work authorization (Listen to the interview with HPAE First VP Barb Rosen).
N.J. nursing homes got hundreds of millions of tax dollars to pay workers. So why are some cutting staff?
Yachona Muhammad, a 46-year-old aide at Forest Hill HealthCare Center in Newark, was forced to look for a second job after her hours were suddenly slashed to as few as three days a week in July. “My hours got cut because
NJ doctors fear patients put off crucial care over COVID fears
Across the Jersey Shore, emergency rooms remain half empty. Hospital outpatient wings are abnormally quiet as demand for testing and nonemergency surgeries remain well below normal, doctors say.
HPAE statement on passage of COVID-19 presumption/Workers’ Compensation bill
Nurses and health care professionals should never have had to worry about fighting for workers’ compensation and other benefits if they became sick while providing critical care on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID what’s next: Have NJ nursing homes made enough changes to guard against second wave?
COVID-19 killed tens of thousands in the Northeast, caused massive unemployment and wrecked the economy. In an ongoing series of stories, the USA TODAY Network Atlantic Group examines what the government got wrong in its response to the virus, what policies eventually
Testimony of HPAE Secretary-Treasurer Alexis Rean-Walker in Support of A. 4225
NJ Assembly Judiciary Committee Statement of Alexis Rean-Walker, HPAE Secretary-Treasurer In support of A.4255 Monday, July 20, 2020 Good Morning Chairman Mukherji and the members of Assembly Judiciary Committee. My name is Alexis Rean-Walker, Secretary-Treasurer of HPAE, representing 14,0000 nurses
Statement of Debbie White, RN and President, on Governor Murphy’s Executive Order to Require Face Masks in Outdoor Settings When Social Distancing is Not Possible
After several months of battling the virus, healthcare workers applaud Governor Murphy's Executive Order requiring a face mask when social distancing is not possible.
Hospital nurses picket over contract impasse, coronavirus concerns
Nurses at Salem Medical Center in Mannington Township held an informational picket in front of the hospital Thursday to highlight what they describe as a lack of progress in contract negotiations.
COVID-19 pandemic frontline RNs at Salem hold informational picket to demand safe staffing in contract bargaining
After endless negotiations in which the owners of their hospital seem interested only in giving lip service to wanting a fair deal, Unionized Salem Medical Center Registered Nurses today held information picket to protest lack of progress in bargaining.
Covid-19 pandemic frontline nursing heroes held informational picket to demand respect, protections and recognition for their heroic work
Jersey Shore University Medical Center unionized Nurses held an informational picket today to protest lack of progress and retrogressive policy proposals by Hackensack Meridian Health (HMH) in their contract negotiations.
From the front lines to now a picket line, N.J. nurses say they are fed up and demand protections
More than 1,500 nurses from two New Jersey hospitals say they’ve been “pushed to the limit” Thursday after failing to make progress in contract negotiations with Hackensack Meridian Health.
Testimony of Barbara Rosen, RN First Vice-President of the Health Professionals and Allied Employees Before the New Jersey Assembly Committee on Health
We can all agree that New Jersey and the entire country were completely unprepared to handle any type of pandemic. The lack of planning – nationally, within the State, within healthcare facilities – thrust healthcare workers into a nightmare they
1 in 5 nurses in N.J.’s biggest healthcare union got the coronavirus during pandemic, online poll says
An informal survey of nurses from the state’s largest healthcare union found more than half had been exposed to the coronavirus and one in five developed the potentially lethal disease, COVID-19.
‘I’ve never seen anything so catastrophic.‘ N.J. medical workers confront the trauma coronavirus inflicted.
Many medical workers are just beginning to experience the fallout, overwhelmed by burnout, anxiety and despair. The symptoms are emerging as they reconcile the emotions they compartmentalized while watching scores of patients die and colleagues fall ill.
Nurses on the COVID-19 pandemic frontlines to demand protections and recognition for their heroic efforts
Nurses at Southern Ocean and Jersey Shore University Medical Centers will hold informational pickets to protest lack of progress in bargaining new contract with Hackensack Meridian Health.
George Floyd: A system of racism, hatred and violence
As a union of healthcare workers, our goal, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been to save lives-as many and as often as we can.
As economy reopens, many parents face tough childcare choices (video)
As a social worker, Kristin Tatulli’s been working from home since mid-March. But her office is set to reopen June 30 and she needs to find child care for her two girls.
Jersey Shore hospital investigated: Trash-bag gowns and ill fitting masks?
Federal workplace safety regulators are investigating complaints that Jersey Shore Medical Center gave trash bags for staff to wear and weren't providing properly fitting respirator masks to prevent infection.
For pregnant essential workers, life’s a ‘nightmare.’ They fear for their unborn babies.
Pregnant essential workers on the front lines of the pandemic are struggling with an emotional tug-of-war, forced to choose between the jobs they love and protecting their unborn children.
Fed-up health care workers allege N.J. hospital is putting their lives at risk
Health care workers at a New Jersey hospital fear for their safety, alleging the facility has failed to protect them from infection while treating COVID-19 patients.
Coronavirus has killed dozens in state prisons. How N.J. failed to stop it.
The day after New Jersey lowered its flags to honor coronavirus victims in early April, a grandmother died in Belleville. She was a nurse at Northern State Prison.
HealthCare Heroes ~ Nurses Week 2020
In these difficult, harrowing days of a still raging COVID-19 pandemic, the Health Professionals and Allied Employees union marks Nurses Week 2020 by honoring the sacrifices and service of our HealthCare Heroes.
A prison nurse died, and her union says N.J. fails to protect staff from coronavirus behind bars
Nurses in New Jersey prisons are working in “horrific conditions” that pose an “imminent hazard" to their health amid the coronavirus pandemic...
Open up the state now? N.J. nurses are ‘horrified’ by the idea.
There is a cry going out across the nation to end the lockdown. We see armed protests in some states to “end the quarantine and open the country.”
Hospital and nursing home put employees at risk, including one who died from the coronavirus, union says
A healthcare employee union filed a complaint Tuesday against a North Jersey hospital and nursing home for failing to provide equipment and follow safety requirements that could protect workers from getting the coronavirus, including one man who died last month.
#HealthCareHeroes and #PPENow, HPAE Members and Allies Across New Jersey Say in Poignant Day of Social Media Action
Union unveils online Memorial to member Lives Lost on Coronavirus Pandemic Frontlines
Union alleges Virtua gave hospital nurses bad masks
Virtua Executive Vice President and COO John Matsinger responded that the complaint was “not true” and that the masks in-question were federally approved and...
NJ Grants Legal Immunity to COVID-19 Health Care Providers
Fast-tracked measure easily passes both houses, but some lawmakers question both process and scope of legislation.
Senate Dems want COVID-19 hotspots to get rest of $100 billion fund
The Senate's Democratic healthcare leaders asked HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Tuesday to make sure the remaining funds from Congress' $100 billion provider relief fund are targeted to places hardest hit by COVID-19.
Frontline health care workers stressed by job and employer demands (video)
Former critical care nurse Debbie White now heads a health care workers union with 14,000 members across New Jersey.
Nurses and Doctors Speaking Out on Safety Now Risk Their Job
“Mr. Witt is not allowed on property at JSUMC,” the writing said, beneath a picture of him looking tired and pained. “If he is seen on property please contact your supervisor immediately.”
Hackensack Meridian Health should stand with healthcare professionals, not intimidate and silence them
Statement from HPAE President Debbie White, RN on firing of nurse for defending rights of another
Nurses during coronavirus pandemic face an uphill battle. They always have
It's been said and said, but still not said enough: God bless the nurses. God bless the doctors, technicians, orderlies and ambulance drivers, too. But nurses above all.
WATCH: Jersey Shore hospital staff brought to tears as first-responders offer special thanks
First-responders from communities near Jersey Shore University Medical Center had a special surprise for staff during Monday night’s shift change amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Our COVID-19 Priorities
Workers are on the front lines of the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic often going above and beyond the call of duty and making sacrifices that place their own health and safety at risk.
How an ER nurse and his wife are coping on the front lines of coronavirus fight
After a long 12-hour shift in the emergency room at Christ Hospital, Glenn Levine returns to his Hoboken condo unable to share a simple kiss with his wife.
Health care workers share video diaries of fighting COVID-19
Health care workers from around the U.S. on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19 share video diaries of what they are experiencing while caring for patients and running low on personal protective equipment.
Worker Health is Public Health
In the Covid-19 pandemic, worker health is public health. But worker safety and health is in a crisis in this pandemic.
Joint Statement by State Troopers Fraternal Association (STFA) and Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE) on the Establishment of Donation Drive for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for First Responders and Health Care Professionals
We wish to remind the public that the men and women of both the STFA and the HPAE are on the front lines of maintaining order and public safety and the treatment and care of patients, respectively during this crisis.
Gov. Murphy orders hospitals to report data of ‘critically important’ PPE inventory (video)
Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order Saturday to help keep track of personal protective equipment (PPE) as coronavirus cases continue to grow.
Trump invokes Defense Production Act to force GM to make ventilators for coronavirus fight
President Donald Trump invoked the rarely used Defense Production Act on Friday to order the Department of Health and Human Services to compel General Motors to manufacturer ventilators...
‘The greatest challenge this hospital ever faces’: Christ Hospital losing ground in the war with coronavirus
Jerry-rigged ventilators. Dwindling supplies of N95s and surgical masks. Buckets of bleach instead of sanitizing wipes.
HPAE COVID-19 Telephone Town Hall
Please join me, Debbie White, President of HPAE for a COVID-19 telephone town hall on Thursday, March 26th at 8:00 pm ET.
Trump Wants to ‘Reopen America.’ Here’s What Happens if We Do.
President Trump says he wants the United States “raring to go” in two and a half weeks, on Easter, with “packed churches all over our country.”
Coronavirus updates: N.J. deaths climb to 62; Peak in cases could be 3 weeks away; Stimulus payouts; What you need to know (March 26, 2020)
As the number of coronavirus cases in New Jersey climbed to more than 4,400 on Wednesday, Congress provided some financial relief for millions of Americans ...
#GetMePPE: Why fully equipping health care workers against coronavirus keeps us all safer
Health care providers — including physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists and more — are projected to be the bottleneck resource in providing care for COVID-19 patients in the coming weeks.
COVID-19 Resource Page
A longer list of federal, state, academic and NGO produced resources that reflects the best thinking and practices related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Updated regularly.
N.J.’s 1st major coronavirus testing site hits capacity after just 4 hours
The state-run coronavirus testing site that opened in Bergen County Friday morning started turning people away just after noon, hours before it was scheduled to close.
NJ Healthcare Unions Applaud Governor Murphy’S Efforts to Bring Together Executives and Frontline Caregivers in The Covid-19 Battle
Representatives of New Jersey’s leading health care unions applaud Governor Murphy for creating a platform for collaboration within the health care industry to develop standardized responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump Signs Relief Package; China Reports Zero New Local Infections
For the first time since the coronavirus crisis began, China on Thursday reported no new local infections for the previous day...
Trump invokes Defense Production Act as coronavirus response
President Trump announced Wednesday that he will invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA), which would allow the administration to force American...
These charts show how quickly coronavirus is spreading in N.J.
The number of reported coronavirus cases shot up drastically Monday in New Jersey, when the state announced 80 new cases, bringing the total to at least 178.
Coronavirus Is Hiding in Plain Sight
Scientists tracking the spread of the coronavirus reported on Monday that, for every confirmed case, there are most likely another five to 10 people in the community with undetected infections.
Short Supplies and Effects of ‘Worried Well’ Complicate NJ’s Planning for COVID-19 Surge
To deal with expected influx of patients, measures could include drafting in retired health care professional and reopening facilities that had been closed
N.J. hospital puts a stop to elective surgeries amid coronavirus pandemic
Hackensack Meridian Health said Sunday it will postpone all elective surgical procedures for two weeks, in response to a request made Saturday by U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams.
New coronavirus test at Hackensack Meridian sites across NJ can get results in hours
A quick test to help triage emergency room patients with potential coronavirus infections was introduced Thursday at hospitals in the Hackensack Meridian Health system across New Jersey.
Join the #COVID19 Social Media Rally, Keep Workers and Patients Safe!
Join us for a #COVID19 Social Media Rally. Healthcare Workers across NJ are Providing Safe Patient Care. Now is the Time to Demand State and Federal Officials Give Workers the Protections They Need.
N.J. medical workers raise ‘shocking concerns’ about shortage of masks, protective gear for coronavirus
Nurses and and certified nursing assistants in hospitals and nursing homes across the state are relaying “shocking concerns" about supply shortages as the coronavirus steadily spreads.
Healthcare Unions Demand Protections for Workers on the Frontlines of COVID-19 Outbreak in NJ
we are calling on the State of NJ to stay strong on standards and ensure all healthcare facilities have the supplies, training materials, and staffing support they need to reduce everyone's risk of exposure to COVID19.
Coronavirus update: N.J. announces 8 new cases, bringing total to 23 positive tests with 1 death
The number of coronavirus cases in New Jersey has increased by eight, bringing the statewide total to 23 positive tests with one death, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday.
N.J. coronavirus update: State waives COVID-19 testing fees for about 2M residents
Gov. Phil Murphy announced Tuesday the state will waive fees for testing and testing-related services for the coronavirus for about 2 million New Jerseyans...
Coronavirus: As Murphy Declares State of Emergency, Officials Focus on Mitigation, Containment
Public officials are working across state lines to piece together an expanding and increasingly complex puzzle when it comes to coronavirus in New Jersey...
Coronavirus update: NJ cases now up to 11 with 5 more reported today
New Jersey reported five new presumed cases of coronavirus on Monday, which brings the state total to 11, Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver said at an afternoon press briefing.
Why We Should Care: Common Questions and Answers about Covid-19
A list of the most common responses, with the hope that this makes this information more easily accessible to others.
N.J. officials doing ‘everything we can’ to prepare for coronavirus, Murphy says
As fears grow about the spread of the coronavirus across the globe, Gov. Phil Murphy said state government officials held a meeting Wednesday morning to make sure New Jersey is prepared.
Coronavirus screening on cruise ship docked in N.J. sends 4 to hospital for evaluation
Four of the 27 Royal Caribbean passengers screened for coronavirus after the cruise ship docked in Bayonne on Friday morning were sent to hospitals for further evaluation, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said.
Coronavirus transmitted from one person to another for first time in U.S.
Health officials announced the sixth confirmed case of coronavirus in the U.S. on Thursday, the first time the disease was transmitted from one person to another in the country.
Suspected N.J. coronavirus patient tests negative
A patient suspected of having the new coronavirus has tested negative, New Jersey health officials said Tuesday.
CDC: 110 suspected nCoV cases in 26 states being probed
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today during a press conference that the United States now has 110 persons under investigation (PUIs) from 26 states being tested for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) responsible for ...
Murphy, Persichilli outline New Jersey’s preparation for coronavirus cases
Gov. Phil Murphy today outlined New Jersey’s strategy for preventing and managing the spread of a coronavirus originating in Wuhan, China, that’s killed more than 100 people and left thousands more sick.
Thats all, folks - no more news!
Resources
- Tell us your story about COVID-19 at your facility
- Employer Safety Violation List
- NJDOL Division of Unemployment Insurance
- Fake Face Mask Guide for HPAE Members
- Assignment Despite Objection Form
- COVID-19 External Resource List
- HPAE COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions for Nurses and Healthcare Personnel
- Our COVID-19 Priorities
- NJ Workers: Frequently Asked Questions During the Coronavirus Emergency
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