Central Texas mom pleads with state legislators to fund home healthcare

WACO, Texas (KWTX) -A Central Texas mom is fighting for home care for her daughter who is disabled, needs around-the-clock care, and has been without a home health nurse for nine months.

Marcia Bayer took all four of her children to the state capital to share her story in hopes of securing funding for the home care industry that she says has taken a big hit during the pandemic and led to a shortage of home health nurses.

“We have done three interviews in nine months,” Bayer said.

“Two of the interviews we did, the nurses were like, ‘Great, we want to come to meet y’all’ and then ended up getting hired by the hospital because they are being paid almost double in hospitals than what they are in home health.”

The President of the Texas Association of Home Care and Hospice says their industry has been forgotten when it comes to COVID relief funding which means no way to pay competitive wages.

That’s why they have turned to the Texas Legislature.

“They are hoping to offer nurses bonuses, hoping to offset some of their costs for COVID relief,” Bayer said.

Bayer says she’s advocating for her family and those across the state who need these nurses to function.

“I wanted them to see us which is why we took our kids with us so they could see us and realize we are a family and we are families all over Texas,” Bayer said.

“There are large numbers of us, and our kids matter, and our kids need this so they can continue on with their lives.”

This additional funding could also benefit the healthcare system as a whole.

“They can’t move the patients out of the hospital to go home because there are no home health nurses for them so patients that are leaving the hospitals on oxygen and leaving the hospitals on feeding tubes because of long haul COVID patients, there’s no home health nurses for them in Waco,” Bayer said.

The Texas Association for Home Care and Hospice has called on the Texas Legislature to allocate $412 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to help the industry.

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