Pennsylvania’s process for determining which companies with frontline workers in the battle against covid-19 will be reimbursed for hiking their workers’ wages by up to $3 an hour through late October has left some health care companies wondering how the decisions were made.
“There’s not really a rhyme nor reason” why some businesses were deemed eligible for a reimbursement and others were not, said Steve Tack, CEO of Quality Life Services of Butler, which operates 10 skilled nursing and personal care facilities, plus home health and hospice services.
“It’s a lack of consistency,” Tack said of the approval process for the $50 million Covid-19 Pennsylvania Hazard Pay Grant Program, which is funded from the state’s allocation of federal CARES Act funds.
Under the hazard pay grant program, 41,587 employees at 639 companies statewide were approved for a temporary pay hike from Aug. 16 to Oct. 24. The cost of the temporary raises will be reimbursed by part of Pennsylvania’s allocation from the CARES Act. The extra money, a total of $1,200 over 10 weeks, will be earmarked for workers who earn less than $20 per hour and are involved in health care, manufacturing and selling food, social assistance, janitorial, transportation and security.
The state approved the applications for pay raise reimbursements for 69 businesses in Allegheny County and 28 in Westmoreland, according to the state Department of Community and Economic Development.
The state reported that 10,000 businesses applied for the extra pay assistance, which would have totalled close to $900 million if all were approved. More than 5,000 businesses seeking $300 million were eligible for the reimbursement of up to $1,200 for a maximum of 500 full-time equivalent employees.
“My big concern is that thousands of other (health care) providers were not approved. The large majority did not get a dime,” said George Norman James, CEO of Valley Community Service of Mt. Pleasant, which was approved for a reimbursement of $404,160, the most any business based in Westmoreland County received. Sixteen health care businesses based in the county were approved for $1.43 million in reimbursements.
The Pennsylvania Healthcare Association, a trade group representing businesses such as Valley Community Service, does not want the government “to pick winners and losers” in terms of providing extra money for some health care facilities and not others, said Zach Shamberg, association president.
The state explained how the applications were judged, saying it was based on amount of money requested in each industry category, the workers’ risk level, OSHA exposure risk criteria, the wage rate of industries and positions and whether other federal funds were available, the state said.
In Allegheny County, security firm Am-Gard Inc. of Sharpsburg was approved for the largest reimbursement: $400,800. Jennifer Boczar, chief operations officer for Am-Gard, could not be reached for comment on how many workers would be eligible for hazard pay.
At Valley Community Service, the reimbursement will provide a temporary pay raise for more than 300 direct support professionals at 41 community living arrangements and intermediate care facilities in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties as well as eight others, James said. The company will incur some costs associated with the pay raise because of the extra pay some employees will get for working overtime, James said.
While James was pleased Valley Community Service was approved for reimbursement, he said he hopes Gov. Tom Wolf expands the program. Wolf, for his part, said demand indicates the need for additional funding to support critical frontline workers.
The state Health Care Association has asked Wolf and the General Assembly to “replenish the program and allocate additional funds,” Shamberg said.
“There is still (CARES Act) money out there,” he said.
Quality Life Services was approved for $129,000 in reimbursements to provide hazard pay for 350 to 400 workers at its West Haven Manor skilled nursing facility in Washington Township and three others in Mercer and Cambria counties. The dilemma that CEO Tack faces is that workers doing the same job at eight other Quality Life facilities will not receive extra pay because the state did not approve them for reimbursement.
That could lead to hard feelings among the staff at different facilities, he noted.
While not questioning the industries that were selected for the program, Tack wondered how the state could have omitted ambulance personnel.
“I think it was a great, great idea … but it leaves a whole lot of people scratching their head,” Tack said.
The state’s decision has left officials at Presbyterian SeniorCare in Oakmont, which operates skilled nursing, senior housing and assisted living communities, wondering what to do, spokeswoman Lisa Fischetti said. It was approved for reimbursement for five of its facilities — two in Oakmont, two in Washington and one in Lawrence County — but that leaves about 50 facilities that were denied.
“We’re still trying to unpack it,” Fischetti said, because “the math doesn’t add up.”
The amount of money the state will reimburse Presbyterian SeniorCare in Oakmont, $114,000, “is far less than what we need” to cover all of workers considered frontline employees in dealing with covid-19, Fischetti said.
“Who gets it and how much do they get” must be determined, Fischetti said. “All of our employees are essential.”
Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at 724-836-5252, jnapsha@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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