Paula Skidmore, District 8 Health Care Workers Council Coordinator

Contact information:
prskidmore@harlanonline.net 

Local 14491 Vice President Paula Skidmore began her career 25 years ago as a medical transcriptionist. At the time, Paula was looking for a career that would offer a good, family-supportive job while allowing her to positively impact the lives of others.

She found both, thanks to her work with Harlan Appalachian Regional Healthcare and her time as a USW member.

The defining moment that deepened her union activism, Paula said, was in 2006 when her facility went on strike. The moment crystalized for her the need for unwavering solidarity in order to improve conditions for both for workers and the patients they serve.

Now, working in admissions at Harlan, she’s serving as the Health Care Workers Council’s newest member. Founded to encourage greater communication between local unions in the health care sector in each USW district, the USW Health Care Workers Council provides resources on bargaining trends, legislative concerns, health and safety initiatives, and more.

Paula hopes to use this opportunity to help tackle what she sees as the biggest issue facing the health care industry: its inability to recruit and retain a quality workforce.

“The union is the only way we get through to corporate,” Paula says. “And the truth is, if you don’t have quality workers, you don’t have a quality facility.”