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Susan Trainor, CRNP
College Township
As someone who has worked for Mount Nittany Health and its predecessor organizations for more than 30 years, I support the Mount Nittany Health employees represented by SEIU in their effort to earn wages that reflect the value of their work.
During my career, I have seen extraordinary advances in medicine and technology. But one thing has never changed: healthcare is only as good as the people providing it. Every patient experience depends on the nurses, technicians, housekeepers, transporters, dietary workers, respiratory therapists and so many others whose work is often invisible until they are no longer there.
Over the past quarter century, our economy has increasingly rewarded capital, executive compensation and profits while the share of economic gains going to working people has lagged behind. Healthcare has not been immune to that trend. Yet hospitals are unlike other businesses. Their greatest resource is not a building or equipment. It is the workforce.
Mount Nittany Health has much to be proud of. It has grown into an outstanding independent community health system because of the dedication of the people who walk through the doors every day to care for our neighbors. The people serving our patients deserve wages that allow them to live with dignity in the community they serve.
Valuing the people who provide healthcare means valuing patient care. The long-term strength of Mount Nittany Health will depend, in no small part, on the people who care for our community every day.