SENATOR ANWAR STANDS ALONGSIDE NURSES, HEALTH PROFESSIONALS ADVOCATING FOR SAFE STAFFING AND PATIENT LIMITS TO PROTECT HEALTH SERVICES

Today, State Senator Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor), joined by fellow legislators including State Senator Julie Kushner (D-Danbury), State Senator Jan Hochadel (D-Meriden), State Representative Cristin McCarthy-Vahey (D-Fairfield) and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, stood alongside health care professionals as they advocated for legislative proposals including but not limited to patient limits for nurses and safe staffing levels in health care.

Speakers, including Crystal Badeau, vice president of WCMH United Employees and AFT Local 5099 and Sherri Dayton, vice president for healthcare for AFT Connecticut, described dire conditions and abuse from patients they’ve experienced in the field in the process of attempting to provide care, and professionals warned that attrition due to these conditions is threatening the field’s ability to provide care.

“Safe staffing saves lives. There should be no confusion about this,” said Sen. Anwar, a pulmonologist with extensive health care experience himself. “One of the first bills I proposed before the pandemic was about safe staffing. Why? Because in the intensive care unit, I saw my colleagues crying in those moments when they were tired, treating critically ill patients without the resources to do so effectively, trying to take care of each and every one of them. The pain and suffering is real. And then we had the pandemic.”

“Before the pandemic, we were stretched,” he continued. “After the pandemic, we are in crisis. Health care workers and nurses are burned out. One of five health care workers have left the field and one in three of those remaining are thinking about leaving. This is a crisis rapidly moving toward disaster, and this disaster is preventable. If you don’t have adequate staff, people die. You increase the risk of medical errors. Your patients’ conditions worsen. At this time, what we have to do is recognize the status quo is unacceptable. We have a country with excellent health care and to see that erode is painful. Let’s intervene. Let’s do what we can. Rep. McCarthy-Vahey and I are committed to bringing health care leaders to the table and work together. We need the hospitals on board. We cannot implement a comprehensive plan without fixing current issues. We need a workforce pipeline for those who choose this field and we need to support our heroes who put themselves in harm’s way. We need to show them that love we showed them during the pandemic; if we do not back up that love through action, they are only words.”

“It’s time for us to help the helpers,” said Rep. McCarthy-Vahey. “These are the people who don’t want to put their oxygen masks on first, even when that’s what they need to do to support us. We’re here to support them and help the helpers. We look forward to making sure health care workers are safe and all people in Connecticut will remain safe as well.”

Specific proposals mentioned by health leaders included addressing unsafe staffing levels, with stories relaying staffing ratios as high as 29 patients for two nurses in one shift, a level that threatens both the ability of professionals to administer care and for patients to properly receive care and recover; establishing safe patient limits; and protecting vital health services. As those gathered said, adding a single patient to a nurse’s workload increases the risk of patient death by 7%.

Today’s pleas come in the wake of the AFT’s 2022 health care staffing shortage task force report, which found health care was already dangerously understaffed before the COVID-19 pandemic and is now in crisis. With nursing education programs understaffed, underfunded and costly, with attrition among staff quickening its pace – as many as 100,000 RNs under the age of 44 left the workforce between 2020 and 2021 – health professionals advocate for improved recruitment, expanded aid for students and loan repayment, and enacting laws mandating better safety standards in the field.

SENATOR ANWAR STANDS WITH MEDICAL AID-IN-DYING ADVOCATES AS THEY UNVEIL PORTRAITS OF LOVED ONES WHO DIED WAITING FOR HELP, CALL FOR CHANGE

Today, State Senator Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor) joined advocates and supporters of medical aid-in-dying, policy that would allow diagnosed terminally ill patients to live to voluntarily request medical assistance to end their lives, as they stood at the Capitol, calling for change in honor of their loved ones who died painfully from illness when they did not receive access to aid-in-dying. Those gathered revealed portraits of their loved ones, which were then hung in the walkway connecting the Legislative Office Building and State Capitol building.

As Senate Chair of the Public Health Committee, Sen. Anwar spoke regarding the legislation and its hopeful passage in the 2023 legislative session. Medical aid-in-dying is legal in ten states and the District of Columbia. The policy has been introduced as a bill in Connecticut more than a dozen times dating back to 1995, but staunch opposition has prevented its passage.

“As a physician who’s committed to health for the long lives and well-being of all patients, I recognize various illnesses require people to make difficult and unnecessary end-of-life journeys,” said Sen. Anwar. “There has been real evolution in my thinking about this issue. If you asked me about five years ago, as a physician, I’d say I was hard-wired to try to protect life and do whatever is possible to save and prolong life. But I recognize that, as an individual, you are not in control, and when you realize suffering cannot be managed by the best possible teams available, you have a responsibility at that time to give those people an option. We need to make sure our citizens who find themselves in impossible circumstances have options and we have no right to restrict those options from people. Advocates have worked tirelessly to find the right balance between patient access and safeguards to craft a bill that will work as intended for those for whom it is intended.”

“We do not see the same individuals testify on this issue year after year,” Sen. Anwar continued. “Many of them are on their death beds when they come and speak. They know their testimony will be their last opportunity to speak. And we know, as they are suffering, their suffering will not end, but they hope the suffering of others will be better. That gesture of kindness is so moving and should be a point of reflection to recognize the respect, pain and suffering involved to make sure we help others.”

“We’re here this morning to unveil a series of portraits of advocates who have died waiting for this legislation, an option that provides terminally ill people who are mentally capable, working alongside their physician, loved ones and a faith leader if they have one, the ability to bypass the worst part of an active dying process,” said Tim Appleton, senior campaign director for the Compassion and Choices Action Network. “In Connecticut, similar aid in dying legislation has been introduced 15 separate times dating back to 1994. During that time, aid in dying is now authorized in 10 states and Washington D.C. and 20% of Americans have access to it. In Oregon, where the first aid-in-dying law was passed, there has not been a single instance of abuse, misuse or coercion attributed to that law. Finally, the very real legislative cost of inaction is paid for by the suffering of those seeking this option. For far too many, this session and next session will be too late. Another group of people will die waiting. These portraits spell out the cost of inaction.”

Advocates on Wednesday included Jill Hammerberg, whose husband Mark died of prostate cancer; Kira Philips, whose mother Clare took her own life after fighting multiple myeloma; Jennifer Barahona, whose mother Barbara died from ALS; and Jim Naughton, whose wife Pam died from pancreatic cancer. All stood with portraits of their loved ones and shared painful, traumatizing stories of watching their loved ones spend their final days in agony, wishing they could have controlled the ends of their lives on their own terms, rather than allow their terminal illnesses to define their deaths.

On Wednesday at noon, the Public Health Committee held a committee meeting considering medical aid-in-dying as a raised concept.

SENATORS ANWAR, MAHER JOIN CALL FOR UNIVERSAL NO-COST SCHOOL MEALS

HARTFORD – Following the late-2022 end of federal support for universal school lunches that supported all students grades K-12 during the apex of the COVID-19 pandemic, State Senators Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor) and Ceci Maher (D-Wilton) joined a coalition of representatives from food, hunger, school and health nonprofits this morning in Hartford to advocate for the funding of meals at Connecticut schools for all students. Those assembled called for immediate emergency funding to be passed by the legislature to support school meals through the end of the 2022-23 school year, also seeking legislative action to indefinitely fund meals for years to come.

The School Meals 4 All CT Coalition, who joined legislators at today’s event, includes members of dozens of organizations in public health, food assistance, social services and education. One in eight children suffer from hunger, advocates said, and with the end of student meals in late 2022, the programs that supplied important nutritional and societal benefits for children have been stripped, adding both hunger and stigma back into students’ lives. Especially important in the conversation is the low earning threshold for support with the end of this funding; currently in Connecticut, a family of four would need to earn less than $36,075 to qualify for no-cost meals and $51,338 to qualify for reduced cost meals.

“If a child is hungry, they will not be able to learn. They will not be happy. They are more likely to experience chronic illness and medical issues. That’s the reality,” said Sen. Anwar. “We used to see on television that in other parts of the world, children were going hungry, and we would stop to help. Little did we know we would have this conversation in our own communities, where our own children are going hungry. We are all united today in the name of future generations. Providing access to nutrition is something we must do; it is our responsibility. This will be a priority of Senate Democrats this session to address this issue long-term, and the Children’s Committee is already considering the issue at hand. We will pass this bill, hopefully by June, but in between now and then, we cannot afford to wait.”

“I would like to thank State Senator Cathy Osten for appropriating $30 million for school meals last year,” Sen. Anwar noted.

“We are considering an emergency certification to make sure children are fed,” said Sen. Maher. “We know there are issues of mental health, as well, in our communities; we cannot understate the impact of mental health issues on parents when they cannot feed their children. This is incredibly important and we need to address it now.”

“One in eight children suffer from hunger. Some qualify for free meals; others come from families whose income is too high to qualify, but still cannot afford school meals. Hungry kids can’t learn,” Lucy Nolan, Policy Director for End Hunger CT!, said. “No-cost school meals for all students provides nutritional, but also ends the stigma that comes with subsidies, lessens the administrative burden on schools and relieves the financial stress on families.”

“I believe that all kids should have the right to access food, and getting kids free meals in schools is an important way to make that happen,” said Hadley Hamilton-Moras, a fifth-grader at West Hartford’s Charter Oak School. “Having breakfast and lunch at school helps kids learn and helps kids who don’t have food at home know that school is a place that helps meet our needs. When school meals were free in West Hartford, all of my friends ate lunch every day. Since free meals stopped, I have friends who don’t eat lunch because they don’t have money to buy food and they don’t have food at home. I hope Connecticut will pass legislation to provide food to kids who wouldn’t have it otherwise.”

“As a pediatrician, every day, I see how important it is for kids to have access to healthy, nutritious food,” said Dr. Molly Markowitz, advocacy committee chair for the Connecticut Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “Children who experience food insecurity are at increased risks of negative health outcomes, including illness, chronic diseases and nutritional deficiencies. They’re also more likely to be hospitalized and experience higher medical costs. They experience impaired learning in schools, are more likely to experience developmental delays and are more likely to experience behavioral challenges. Hunger is also harmful to parents; parents in households experiencing insecurity are more likely to experience mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. Additionally, Black and Brown children in Connecticut and across the country are more likely to experience food insecurity. Children in hunger will experience negative health outcomes. It’s important for legislators to provide access to free school meals to ensure students have the best opportunities to achieve healthy, bright futures.”

“In November, our district lost access to healthy meals for all. On December 1, we went back to paid meals. The effects were immediate and they were awful,” said Jen Bove, nutrition services director for East Hampton Public Schools. “I spent 100% of my first week of paid meals talking to concerned parents, explaining school meals were no longer free, helping them sign up for aid programs or explaining to them why they were not eligible for those programs. A lot of these conversations were heartbreaking and they left me feeling helpless. This year, we’ve received five times as many applications for free or reduced lunch as we did before the pandemic, but I have had to reject more than half of them because their incomes were too high to quality. Our nurses tell me we’ve had more students asking them for snacks and reporting hunger. We also had a 60% decrease in school breakfast participation in December and a 45% decrease in school lunches. We’ve also had a huge decrease in revenue and I have to cut back on the quality of meals. I’m frustrated. A hungry child can’t learn and no child should be made to feel less-than because they can’t afford a meal.”