OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — For caregiver Vinessa Espinoza, working with seniors in their homes has value beyond a paycheck.
"If they're able to live a semi-independent life by me being in their home helping them, I would rather see that happen than go to a facility where they're not getting that one-on-one care every single day with somebody bonding with them, talking to them," Espinoza said.
But finding enough people to serve the existing need is an issue. The answers as to why it is so hard to find people are multi-layered, with burnout and low wages as contributors.
Starting wages are $13 to $16 an hour. Janet Seelhoff, the Executive Director of the Nebraska Association for Home Health Care and Hospice says raising wages is difficult.
"Home care and hospice and home health, a lot of the reimbursement is through Medicare and Medicaid models. We're bound by those reimbursement rates. It's not easy for those providers to say 'I'll increase my fees.' What gets passed along to the patients? That's not how it works," Seelhoff said.
Visiting Angels sets caregivers up with seniors. There's huge turnover with half not making it past six months.
"We have more calls for help than we do for the care," co-owner Phil Labadie said. "So, our schedulers that match the client with the caregivers are constantly in a battle of, where someone will call off at the last second, or they don't show up at all and all of a sudden the client says the caregiver doesn't show up. So, we scramble to fill those gaps."
If these shortages in home care persist, there's a fear that fewer seniors can stay in their homes.
Espinoza understands that the difficulties and the rewards of the job go hand-in-hand- stressing it takes a certain kind of person to do this work.
"It's a lot. If you don't have the amount, the heart for it, the patience and the time, it can take a lot out of you," Espinoza said.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports jobs for home health and personal care aides will grow 33% over the next eight years. Visiting Angels has more than two dozen job openings right now.
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