Amid nursing home outbreaks, local home care company says personal care aides are in high demand

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — There’s a high demand right now for personal care aides, as more elderly people are trying to avoid going to nursing homes and instead get care at home. A local home care company says they need to fill at least 100 positions right away to keep up with the increased demand.

John McCooey, managing partner of Albany’s Belvedere Health Services says even before the pandemic, there was a lack of personal care aides but now, with more families finding the risks of keeping a loved one in a nursing home too high, the shortage is greater than ever. Most of the folks Belevdere cares for are covered under Medicaid waivers at no cost to them. McCooey says the nation needs to re-think healthcare delivery, especially when it comes to the elderly. 

“People are saying, ‘well actually, being at home is better,’ nobody wants to go, nobody’s choosing to go to a nursing home. People want to stay at home but to do that you have to shift resources to home services,” he said. 

This is an entry level job, but it’s a challenging one. Belvedere will provide you with training. Demand is only expected to grow. Even before the pandemic, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted there would be millions of these job openings in the next few years.   

LATEST STORIES

• Details of new grant program announced by Albany Mayor
• Houses explode in Baltimore, killing 1 and trapping 1, fire union says
• Operation Adopt A Soldier to hold donation drive a year after headquarters burned
• Maria College to offer occupational therapy graduate program
• Capital Region Antiracism Community Training Initiative starts 21-day equity challenge