Fresno County healthcare providers cannot afford medicine? They want a raise

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Home care providers and nursing home workers are advocating for higher wages – officials say they make less than $20 per hour, making them unable to afford medicine.

According to officials, the Fresno In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) home care providers gathered Tuesday at the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to continue advocating for livable wages and healthcare benefits in their current contract after requesting it for years.

Officials with the union say the county’s current IHSS wage is $17.10 an hour – the wage is roughly $3 less than that of a fast food worker, whose wages reached $20 per hour following the passing of a California law in 2024.

Additionally, the union says four out of every five home care providers and nursing home workers have reported having to work multiple jobs, at least some of the time, just to make ends meet. They have also been reportedly relying on CalFresh and food banks monthly and have not been able to access medication because they could not afford it.

The union says the cost of living in Fresno County went up by 38.4% over the last nine years, while the county’s supervisors raised the wages of their home care providers during that same period by a total of 4.6% – an action that the union says increases the shortage crisis of care providers across the county.

Yourcentralvalley.com reached out to Fresno County for a response but hasn’t heard back.