Reddit I need your help. I work for a Direct Support Professional/ Home Health Aide company called Midwest Health Service, their corporate location is in Massillon, OH. We are a company paid by the state to basically care for individuals with development disabilities. Lately the company is failing to care for these individuals to the point where their health is at risk. We are supposed to be monitoring these individuals and to basically be there so they don't harm themselves or others but this company is not doing it. This company is abandoning individuals for hours at a time, they aren't providing sufficient staffing (example: some houses need 2 staff because there's so many individuals and they're sending 1) but continue billing the state the same rate despite providing half or even a quarter of the staffing necessary for these individuals. This is a million dollar company and they refuse to pay staff living wadges and as a result we cant staff houses properly and they endorse this neglectful care.
These individuals are being left alone for HOURS. some cant be left alone at all and their books even state they cant be left alone and need constant checks every 15 minutes.These individuals are not receiving the proper medication, they sometimes even miss vital medications or they get 2x dosed on medications that can potentially kill them. Documentation is not being done for these individuals like sleep charts or BM (bowel movement) charts and because of this we don't know whats even going on with the individual on a daily basis.
Working Conditions:
They force us to work 50-60 hours a week and in some very common cases staff work 80+ a week.
They force us to wok 12-15 hour shifts and for some managers they work 60+ A SHIFT. They will make them work Friday night through Monday morning no break or anything, they encourage those people to “sleep on shift” and the individuals are basically left alone while a staff sleeps.
The individuals ruin our clothing, they rip our shirts off our bodies and rip our pants. when asked for company uniforms or help paying for replacements the company tells us to “just shop at goodwill” I cant afford to spend $100+ for the clothes to end up in the garbage a month later.
They call and text us on off hours and days basically demanding we pickup more hours and if we don't respond to either they write us up. I barely get 1 day off a week, I don't want to work more hours on MY ONLY DAY OFF.
How to help:
I need the reddit community to contact the DoDD (https://dodd.ohio.gov/your-family/report-a-concern/report-abuse) and report this company for neglecting their individuals.
If unsure what to say here is a generic statement you can provide, this can be completely anonymous:
“I believe Midwest Health is neglecting their clients and I urge you guys to investigate this company and ensure their clients are safe and being properly cared for”
Thank you for your time.