Calls support of employees for their co-workers “heartwarming;” says goal is to aid CareOne employees who suffered Hurricane Sandy losses in time for the holidays

FORT LEE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- CareOne Management CEO Daniel Straus announced today that the inaugural fundraising event for the CareOne Disaster Fund raised more than $1 million to aid the more than 100 CareOne employees who suffered significant losses during Hurricane Sandy – including many who lost their homes, cars, furniture, clothing and other personal property – and Straus vowed to aid as many employees as possible in time for the holidays.

Straus said the inaugural fundraising event, held Tuesday, Dec. 4, in Woodland Park, N.J., “was a tremendous success. Many individuals, as well as corporate sponsors, contributed to raise more than $1 million to help the victims of this devastating storm. The employees of CareOne worked so hard to make this the superb event that it was.

“It was heartwarming to witness such a splendid example of cooperation, teamwork and caring. CareOne employees have deep empathy for their co-workers and have seen first-hand the toll that this devastating storm has exacted on their co-workers and their families. We all thought it was important to come together to help those in our CareOne family as well as other individuals in the hardest hit areas.”

Straus said the fund’s Independent Selection Committee will meet soon to start determining the amount of aid to be awarded to affected CareOne employees. “Together, we will all be making a maximum effort to help as much as possible in time for the holidays,” he said.

The losses suffered by CareOne employees were spread along the New Jersey coast.

Immediately following Hurricane Sandy, CareOne – which employees more than 4,000 people in New Jersey – initiated a number of efforts to aid employees, including:

• The CareOne Relief Store, which supplied basic necessities such as food, clothing and supplies;
• Support and Counseling, which deployed counselors to aid in effectively managing the emotional and psychological impact the storm had on the lives of employees and other individuals; and
• Assistance with Federal Loan Applications, providing volunteer support to assist employees, customers and community members in applying for federal aid.

To donate to the fund, checks should be made payable to the CareOne Disaster Relief Fund and mailed to Matt Marcos at CareOne, 173 Bridge Plaza North, Fort Lee, NJ 07024. For more information on donating to the fund, please contact Tim Hodges Thodges@care-one.com or Matt Marcos Mmarcos@care-one.com.

Please Note: To access several photographs taken during the Dec. 4 fundraiser visit the CareOne site here, as well as for further information on the fund, please go tohttp://careonefund.com/.

CareOne Management is a family-owned company with more than 45 years of healthcare experience; CareOne operates 29 healthcare centers throughout New Jersey.

Says many still face daily struggles; need for aid and support will continue for weeks and months

FORT LEE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Note to Editors/Reporters: CareOne Management CEO Daniel E. Straus today distributed the following message to the more than 4,000 New Jersey-based CareOne employees:

Dear CareOne Team Member:

As Thanksgiving fast approaches, I wish to thank each and every one of you for your extraordinary efforts in recent weeks as you have dealt with the many adverse impacts of Hurricane Sandy on both your professional and personal lives.

Throughout these weeks you have time and again shown a steadfast dedication to meeting the highest standards of safety, care and services for CareOne residents. You have achieved this despite the fact that many of you faced serious obstacles – either at your homes or those of your loved ones – caused by the storm.

Throughout, you have been highly supportive of one another and your communities, while all the while making the care of our residents your top priority.

As we celebrate the beloved tradition of Thanksgiving, I know you will all be mindful, as am I, of the many in our communities still facing daily struggles and the fact that they will need our continued aid and support in the coming weeks and months.

Please accept my deepest thanks to you and your families. Happy Thanksgiving.

Daniel E. Straus

CareOne Management is a family-owned company with more than 45 years of health care experience; CareOne operates 29 healthcare centers throughout New Jersey.

Says the “hardships suffered by so many have made a lasting impression on us all”

FORT LEE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Note to Editors/Reporters: CareOne Management CEO Daniel E. Straus today distributed the following announcement to the more than 4,000 New Jersey-based CareOne employees:

Dear CareOne Team Member:

I am pleased to announce that Tuesday, December 4th has been set as the date for the inaugural fundraising event for the CareOne Disaster Relief Fund.

The event will feature a “Casino Night” theme with paid admission contributions, a silent auction and corporate sponsorship donations. It will be held at the Westmount Country Club, Woodland Park, N.J., and carried out under the banner of “Coming Together To Make Things Better.” It is scheduled to run from 6:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Proceeds from the event will go to awardees of the CareOne Disaster Relief Fund, the organization founded to improve the quality of life through charitable assistance to CareOneemployees, customers and their families, as well as community organizations most significantly impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Awardees will be chosen by an Independent Selection Committee based on the financial amount, severity of damage and immediate benefit of the financial assistance.

The hardships suffered by so many have made a lasting impression on us all. Those affected include members of the more than 4,000 person New Jersey CareOne Team, the loved ones of the more than 4,000 persons for whom we provide daily care, and the communities in which we serve, and I am gratified to learn that so many of you have volunteered to donate your time and money to the event.

Awardees will receive financial grants to:

• Provide financial aid and assistance for temporary living arrangements
• Provide financial aid to assist in funding permanent living options
• Provide financial aid to assist in paying for daily necessities as they rebuild and recover (food, supplies, clothing, gas, etc.)
• Provide financial aid to assist in purchasing larger scale items such as cars and larger scale household items (refrigerators, washer/dryers, etc.)
• Pay bills such as car insurance, car payments, phones, day care for children, etc.

As we all work towards making the December 4th event a success, the existing CareOne Disaster Relief Fund efforts continue:

· The CareOne Relief Store: Established two days after the storm, the Relief Storm provides basic necessities such as clothing, food and supplies. Located at CareOne’s Monmouth County care center, CareOne at King James, the Relief Store is fully stocked with more than $10,000 worth of donated items from the company and community to assist the more than 40 employees and their families most impacted by the storm.

· Support and Counseling: CareOne has deployed counselors to our hardest hit communities to aid employees and community members in effectively managing the emotional and psychological impact the storm has had on their lives. Initial services have been arranged and funded by CareOne, but further counseling and support is needed while victims recover from the devastating storm.

· Assistance with Federal Aid Applications: Ongoing volunteer support has been provided to the CareOne centers hardest hit by the storm to assist employees, customers and community members in applying for federal aid. Volunteers assist victims with navigating applications, data entry and interpreting the information needed to successfully complete applications.

More information on the Dec. 4 event is available at www.careonefund.com and will be updated as needed. Thank you.

Daniel E. Straus

CareOne Management is a family-owned company with more than 45 years of health care experience; CareOne operates 29 healthcare centers throughout New Jersey.

The announcement that Spectrum, a Connecticut nursing home chain, has filed for bankruptcy should concern Connecticut seniors and their families.  Medicare and Medicaid coverage has become, at best, stagnant. This results in tremendous financial pressure on both seniors and the facilities providing for their care.

The company entering bankruptcy, Spectrum, is a victim of an overzealous union bolstered by Connecticut elected officials who put over-the-top union demands ahead of Connecticut seniors.  When Spectrum attempted to negotiate on costs the union began a 13-month long strike, to which Spectrum eventually succumbed. 

The situation in Connecticut is untenable. And it is unconscionable. More than 15 nursing homes have either declared bankruptcy or closed, or both, in the last five years. Each and every one had a contract with the New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199 SEIU.

The personal finance website, MoneyRates.com, annually ranks the best and worst states for retirement. In 2010, it gave Connecticut a ranking of 8th best state in which to retire. By the next year, Connecticut’s rating had plunged to 47th. MoneyRates.com said Connecticut’s rating was due to “poor economic performance” stemming from a “deadly combination of high taxes and high cost of living.”

Collective bargaining is about giving and taking – by both sides.  That is made impossible in the state of Connecticut when you know that the collective bargaining isn’t just between an employer and the union.  In Connecticut, lurking in the shadows just slightly away from the bargaining table, are the Governor, the State Attorney General, Members of Congress and other elected officials.

With an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent and the state in more of an economic mess than much of the rest of the U.S., Connecticut is showing the country that it is not only a very risky place in which to do business, it is a risky place to be a senior – and becoming riskier every day.

A key mission of universities is to help students in seeking the truth, and I fully support that mission.

At New York University, my alma mater, where I serve as a Trustee of the Law School and on its Executive Committee, I established The Straus Institute for the Advanced Study of Law & Justice. Each year, more than a dozen Straus Fellows – gifted scholars from different disciplines and cultures – spend 11 months working on individual projects falling within the mission of The Straus Institute.

The SEIU has chosen to target my connection with NYU as part of its ongoing campaign of misinformation and ruthless tactics revolving around a business dispute in Connecticut. It’s a play straight out of the SEIU’s “Contract Campaign Manual,” a document the SEIU was forced to produce in discovery in a 2011 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act case.

In a section entitled “Pressuring the Employer,” the manual calls on union members involved in a contract dispute to use these tactics:

* Outside pressure can involve jeopardizing relationships between the employer and lenders, investors, stockholders, customers, clients, patients, tenants, politicians, or others on whom the employer depends for funds.

* Legal and regulatory pressure can threaten the employer with costly action by government agencies or the courts.

* Community action and use of the news media can damage an employer’s public image and ties with community leaders and organizations.

That’s exactly what the SEIU, via an organization styling itself as the Student Labor Action Movement (SLAM), seeks to do in today’s staged protest. Perhaps SLAM should be asked about its connections to the SEIU.

What the SEIU and SLAM fail to tell students is why the New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199 SEIU is under criminal investigation by the Connecticut Chief State’s Attorney. It’s because, as SEIU members went out on strike on July 3, numerous criminal acts of sabotage were committed against the elderly, often frail, residents at three of the five Connecticut Health Bridge centers. Please see articles here and here.

The recent acts of sabotage bear a striking resemblance to the 2001 strike-related actions against nursing homes by the same union. In the 2001 case, The Hartford Courant reported that then-Chief State’s Attorney John M. Bailey concluded “in a damning report that many of the alleged incidents not only occurred but also were criminal.”

The Connecticut Chief State’s Attorney will be seeking the truth in determining who committed these 2012 odious, totally unacceptable acts of sabotage.

I ask those participating in today’s protest to seek the truth about the union they have chosen to support. Examine the “Contract Campaign Manual” and its sleazy, manipulative recipe of tactics. Ask about the acts of sabotage committed against some of the most vulnerable among us. Then ask yourself if this is a union worthy of your support.