Hundreds gathered outside Valley View nursing home in Altoona earlier this month for a candlelight vigil to protest Commissioners’ plans to sell the home.
Supporters included workers and community members, all concerned that a sale would result in lower quality care for the residents.
“Valley View is the gem of our community,” says Dawn Futrell, who has been a nurse’s aide at the home for 17 years. “We provide the best care in the county to anyone who needs it. “We are committed to our residents and know selling the home would lead to cuts in staffing and supplies. We’ve seen it at other facilities and we will not let that happen to the people we care for.”
Commissioners first brought up a sale in October, to the shock of the community. Workers, who are members of SEIU Healthcare PA, have taken wage freezes and pay cuts over the years to ensure Valley View stays in the black and can continue being a county home. They presented a petition with 4,000 signatures to commissioners, urging them to keep Valley View a county asset. The nursing home brings in roughly $19 Million in revenue each year and provides good jobs, vital to a strong economy.
“The people at Valley View aren’t just patients, they aren’t just residents, they are my family,” said Sharon Pope, CNA. “They deserve the high quality care they’ve come to expect here, and we will keep fighting for them.”