Hospitals Press Congress for More $$ to Address Staffing Shortages

The American Hospital Association (AHA) is calling on Congress to provide additional funding to help manage workforce shortages and respond to rising costs of labor and equipment.

In a letter sent last week, the AHA pressed Congress to “immediately distribute” leftover dollars in the Provider Relief Fund (PRF), and asked for an additional $25 billion in funding.

“As part of negotiations surrounding an omnibus budget agreement, we are now in need of additional immediate support from Congress and the Administration in order to continue standing strong and to be able to provide timely access to life-saving health care to your constituents,” the letter stated.

On a Tuesday morning press call, hospital executives made their case to the media.

“Our nation simply does not have enough clinicians to care for patients today, and not enough are in the training pipelines for the future,” said Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the AHA, during the call.

Currently, 20% of U.S. hospitals are experiencing “critical staffing shortages,” and more are expected to face such shortages in the coming weeks, he noted. These shortages can lead to delays in patient care and medical complications down the line.

While the PRF has been a “lifeline” for healthcare providers, no distributions have been made to date for expenses related to the Omicron or Delta surges, Pollack added. Meanwhile, trauma, burnout, and behavioral health disorders have risen to “historic levels” among caregivers.

AHA Board of Trustees Chair Wright Lassiter, MHA, president and CEO of the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, said there’s been a 600% increase in staff members at Henry Ford requesting support from employee assistance programs, which help connect employees to counseling and other behavioral health services.

In addition, more than 300 team members are currently not working due to a COVID-positive test or exposure, he noted — an improvement over the 589 members who were out of work 10 days earlier. There are also 1,000 nurse vacancies from a pool of roughly 9,000 nurses, Lassiter said.

“As of this morning, we still have approximately 75 beds closed due to staffing concerns,” he added, pointing out that this was an improvement, as the health system was short double that number of beds 3 days earlier.

Ruby Kirby, MBA, CEO of the West Tennessee Healthcare Bolivar and Camden Hospitals, said that hospital vacancy rates are anywhere from 33% to 50% in her area — “probably the highest that I have seen in our rural community in the 22 years that I’ve been in rural health.”

She noted that her hospitals have lost nurses, as well as over 50% of their respiratory therapists, to staffing agencies.

“We cannot compete with the salaries that they’re offering,” she said.

Pollack pointedly criticized healthcare staffing agencies for their role in driving up healthcare costs.

“These companies have exploited the severe shortage of healthcare personnel during the pandemic, by charging exorbitant rates, often two to three times pre-pandemic amounts, and keeping up to 40% of those amounts for themselves,” he said.

The AHA said it had asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate anti-competitive behavior of staffing agencies, but they have yet to receive a response. They called on the Biden administration for its support in addressing the matter.

The AHA is also partnering with the American Nurses Association, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, and the Healthcare Financial Management Association’s Institute for Healthcare Improvement to sponsor a nurse staffing think tank with the goal of developing “actionable short-term strategies” for acute and critical care practice settings. The think tank will also help launch a national nurse staffing task force in the first quarter of 2022.

“The AHA and the AONL [American Organization for Nursing Leadership] will continue to take proactive steps to assist and retain the skilled and valuable workforce that are truly the heart of healthcare and our greatest asset,” said Robyn Begley, DNP, RN, senior vice president and chief nursing officer of the AHA and CEO of the AONL.

During the press call, the AHA also called on Congress and the Biden administration to take the following actions:

• Allow increased flexibility around repayments for loans made at the beginning of the pandemic
• Extend the freeze on the Medicare sequester (eliminating a 2% Medicare cut) until the public health emergency ends or the end of 2022
• Pass the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, which would authorize grants for behavioral health programs for healthcare providers
• Increase support for nursing schools and faculty through loan repayment and scholarships