Listen: Centerlight Bosses Cut Off Battling Nurses in New York

Nurses at Centerlight Healthcare are fighting back against bosses who just cut off their healthcare.

By Bob Hennelly

The death toll from the Los Angeles wildfires rose to 24 with another 16 people missing and the body count likely to rise. Over the weekend, firefighters made progress containing the Palisades and Eaton fires. 

Over a hundred thousand people are under evacuation orders and tens of thousands have been put on notice they could be asked to do so. Well over 12,000 structures have been lost. 

The fatalities include a 83 year-old-man found in his bed, a 66 year-old with limited mobility, and a father who perished with his adult son  who was bed ridden with cerebral palsy. 

These folks were just some of the 15 million Americans that rely on in-home health care provided by visiting nurses like the 70 members of New York State Nursing Association who work for Centerlight Healthcare. 

On December 31, Centerlight management cut off their health insurance after the union nurses refused to be bullied into taking their so-called “offers” which would have forced nurses to pay over four times as much for health care as they had been.

NYSNA members and veteran RNs Becky Gonzalez and Karine Bellony work for Centerlight, and on this episode of the Stuck Nation Labor Radio Hour, they talk about the impact of their employer’s action on the bargaining unit.

In the second half of the show, we talk with Lila Nordstrom, author of “Some Kids Left Behind-A Survivors Fight for Healthcare in the Wake of 9/11. Nordstrom, who lives in West Hollywood, will update us on the air pollution fallout from the LA fires and what residents are doing to protect themselves.

Nordstrom warns that LA officials are not doing nearly enough to protect  the public from the health consequences of the unprecedented fires. 

Listen to the entire show below: