(Philadelphia) - Dan Onorato, the Democratic nominee for Governor, spent a few hours walking in the shoes of Shanrika Dukes, a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) at the Somerton Center nursing home in northeast Philadelphia this afternoon. Ms. Dukes led Mr. Onorato through many of the activities she does every day, including serving residents their lunch, answering calls for assistance, participating in patients' restorative therapy and making beds. The event was sponsored by SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, the state's largest union of healthcare workers.

Before he got there, I thought Mr. Onorato might be scared to interact with the residents or do all the things that I do," said Shanrika Dukes. "But he did really well. He talked with them, asked lots of questions and did everything a rookie employee on the job would do. His commitment to the residents showed and it was fun working with him."

"It's a strenuous job that these people are doing and it's an emotional job. You have to be strong both physically and mentally," said Dan Onorato. "I got a whole newfound respect for the people that work in nursing homes."

Ms. Dukes has been working at Somerton Center for 15 years and is an elected member of the SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania Executive Board. Somerton Center is owned by Genesis HealthCare. All of the CNAs, as well as the dietary and housekeeping workers are members of SEIU.

"If you've never worked in a nursing home, or don't have a family member in a nursing home, you don't know how challenging and important our job is," said Dukes. "It's so important for someone like Dan Onorato to see and understand the work that we do."

"Everyone thinks, 'Oh, you're just taking care of someone," said Onorato. "Well it's more than just sitting there watching someone. You're constantly moving all the time. You move from one event to another event, from one function to another function. There's no downtime."

Photos and video of the event will be available at www.seiuhealthcarepa.org over the weekend.

There are more than 700 nursing homes across the state, the overwhelming majority of which receive a significant amount of their funding from the state through Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. As Governor, Mr. Onorato would be responsible for not only funding quality care, but also the Department of Public Welfare and other agencies that are responsible for monitoring the quality of care in our nursing homes.

"I'm sure that if he becomes Governor, Mr. Onorato will remember that he walked a day in my shoes, and I hope that he will fight for the funding and staffing that we need to provide the highest quality of care to our residents," said Dukes.

"Hardworking Pennsylvanians like the healthcare workers I met today need a champion in Harrisburg -- someone who will make the state work for them, not the special interests. That is exactly what I will do as Governor. I have the experience and the plan to get our economy back on track and build on our strengths in healthcare and other industries to support good-paying jobs for our residents," concluded Onorato.

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SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania is the state's largest and fastest-growing union of nurses and other health care workers, representing nearly 9,000 RNs and over 21,000 employees in hospitals, nursing homes, home care, and state facilities. For more information go to www.seiuhealthcarepa.org.

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