by Devon Green, VP Government Relations, VAHHS Heading into Omicron, it feels like we’re on an airplane with an unspecified mechanical failure—maybe Omicron will be mild and boosters and therapies will come together for a safe landing… but maybe not. Vermont’s hospitals are expected to have the most critical staffing shortages in the country, according to US Department of Health and Human Services data in Becker’s Hospital Review.
Even if Omicron is mild, we can’t afford to have our health care workforce getting sick all at once.
Vermont’s health care workforce shortage is no surprise. Prior to the pandemic, the Rural Health Services Task Force brought forward the issue and advocated for more workforce initiatives. COVID has only accelerated the challenge.
What comes as a surprise to me is how much I take health care for granted. I’ve always assumed that if Vermont were in a critical situation and needed more health care workers, we should be able to pull from the National Guard or FEMA or… somewhere. COVID has laid bare that there is no store of health care workers from which to pull—the clinicians in the National Guard are the clinicians at your local hospital, and with the entire country low on health care workers, there are only so many people FEMA can send.
We can’t keep flying this plane. We need to take immediate action on workforce at the institutional level:
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As the legislature gathers next week, they must prioritize workforce initiatives from the Health Care Workforce Development Strategic Plan and extend the current regulatory flexibilities under Act 6 of 2021 to maximize workforce capacity.
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Hospitals need budgetary flexibility from the Green Mountain Care Board to retain and attract health care workers.
There are also small individual actions we can take to strengthen our health care system:
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Health care workers have been reporting more verbal and physical abuse than ever—it’s heartbreaking. Please realize they are just as frustrated as you and are working under extremely stressful conditions. Let’s keep the health care workers we have!
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Get vaccinated, get boosted, mask, and gather responsibly during this crucial time. There are new COVID therapies coming out, but they are scarce at the moment Let’s reduce the spread until these therapies are more widely available in the future.
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We have a severe blood shortage right now. Please sign up to give blood at https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/find-drive.
Thank you to our health care workforce. When it feels difficult to wake up and go to work in the morning, please know that we value you. It is going to take everything from small gestures of kindness to large short and long term investments, but Vermont can and will avoid a workforce crash.
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January 03, 2022 at 08:56PM
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Green: Hospitals brace for Omicron impact - Vermont Biz
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