SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Raymond Meyer is a cook at a residential care facility in Sacramento.
“Nutrition is definitely still part of patient care,” Meyer said.
Beyond nutrition, he said food comforts the patients. One patient at his facility was feeling down, and the family told Meyer his potato leek soup would lift her spirits.
“So I went and I made a special batch just for her," Meyer said, "I came in the next day, and her family came up and gave me a big hug and said she passed, but they thanked me for making that. They said that was the last smile they saw on her face."
It’s stories like this that keep him at the care facility, even though it means he can’t always care for himself.
“I work my eight hours, and then I go drive Lyft for six hours," Meyer said. "I'm gone so much of the day, that it's hard to get the proper rest, get the proper care I need for myself, let alone my wife who is legally blind.”
Stories like his is why California State Senator Maria Elena Durazo (D- Los Angeles) introduced a $25 minimum wage for everyone who works in healthcare facilities.
All workers, from janitors to security guards are included.
“We know that California is facing a patient care crisis because we don't have enough healthcare workers like you looking out for Californians," Durazo said to healthcare workers Wednesday. "Many healthcare workers suffered through the pandemic, and now are having to struggle to pay bills.”
She said people of color and women make up the majority of the low-wage healthcare workforce.
“We cannot claim to be a state that cares about health equity when low wages and understaffing are driving healthcare workers out of the jobs that they love," Durazo said. "Let's fix the healthcare crisis."
This bill faces strong opposition from the healthcare industry. The California Hospital Association said the crisis is not theoretical.
In a statement they said, “California’s health care system is on the edge of a cliff. One hospital in the central valley has already closed this year; several others are on the verge of shutting their doors; and dozens have had to reduce services just to keep their doors open. Any proposal that would further threaten hospitals’ ability to care for patients will only mean more uncertainty and diminished care for patients in every community in california.”
Kaiser Health News reports that if this passed, 1.5 million California healthcare workers could see rate hikes come Jan. 1st 2024.
WATCH RELATED: UCSD community health workers training program aims to increase access to healthcare (Feb. 2023).