The union that represents most state government workers says staffing levels remain critically low, nearly two years after Gov. Wes Moore took office and promised to address the state’s workforce shortage.
Roughly 10% of the state government positions represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union are vacant, according to union officials. The vacancies amount to about 2,000 positions.
Those shortages hurt the residents on the receiving end of state services, union leaders said during a press conference Tuesday in Salisbury.
“When we don’t have enough staff, our patients have to pay the price,” said Christine Duffy, a geriatric nursing assistant at Deer’s Head Hospital Center, a state-operated nursing home and long-term care facility. “Without adequate staff, our patients are not receiving the proper care they deserve, such as making beds properly, turning patients over every two hours, grooming their hair and nails and making sure they’re getting out of bed regularly.”
As a result of staff shortages, the hospital is also unable to accept patients even when there are available beds, said Duffy, who is also the president of the AFSCME local that represents state workers on the Lower Eastern Shore.
Due to shortages at the Worcester County Health Department, therapists juggle high caseloads, in some cases of more than 40 patients, said Anissa Pierce-Sessoms, a fiscal accounts clerk at the department.
At Eastern Correctional Institute, staff shortages lead the prison to cancel educational and social work programs, said Rownite Stevens, president of the local AFSCME branch that represents the prison’s workers.
Assaults at state prisons are also at an all-time high, with an average of nine assaults each day statewide, she said, attributing it to the staff vacancies.
“We are in a staffing crisis that is putting both staff and incarcerated individuals in danger and jeopardizing our ability to give these individuals the resources they need for a second chance,” Stevens said.
According to a spokesman for Moore, the governor's administration has so far reduced vacancies by 22% statewide, including a 30% reduction at the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and a 46% reduction at the Maryland Department of Health and the Maryland State Department of Education.
"Since day one, Governor Moore has worked day and night to fix the overwhelming staffing shortages he was presented with at his inauguration," Carter Elliott, the spokesman, said in an emailed statement. "Marylanders know that this is an administration they can actually count on to get the state government back firing on all cylinders. And, Governor Moore will continue to work with AFSMCE, advocates, and the state legislature to get it done."
