We each likely have experienced the national workforce shortage, which has hit health care organizations especially hard. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationally, more than 1.7 million health care workers left the field this year – just when U.S. adults are living longer and many will need some form of long-term care.
In this season of reflection and gratitude, I think it’s imperative to recognize the caregiving professionals who remain dedicated to those who rely on them for end-of-life care and services. At Hospice Care of Middletown, our frontline care professionals, along with other hospices, keep our residents comfortable and safe in our community 24/7.
Aging services providers – many nonprofit or faith-based organizations whose core mission is people, not the bottom-line – fill a vital role in every community. As year three of an unprecedented pandemic ends, I applaud the resilient Hospice professionals who gave their hearts and souls to battle COVID and continue to give their all to older adults in our community every day.
- Beth Dorn Shetter, RN, BSN, Middletown
Gov. DeWine must not sign H.B. 507. This bill deceptively relabels natural gas as “green energy” and requires state agencies to lease agency-controlled land for oil and gas exploration and development. This bill is an affront to Ohio citizens and will harm our public lands as well as current and future Ohioans. Climate change and air quality must be addressed honestly, and to do that Ohio and the rest of the world need to transition quickly to real green energy: solar, wind, hydrogen, hydroelectric, etc. Calling natural gas “green energy” doesn’t make it so. In addition to the carbon emitted by burning natural gas, methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is released into the atmosphere in the process of drilling and transporting natural gas. For the health of current and future Ohioans, Governor DeWine must reject H.B. 507.
- Bob Steinbach, Beavercreek