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The AHA today hosted a press call with hospital leaders highlighting the urgent need for additional congressional relief to address the national health care workforce emergency and other challenges facing the field as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The association also released a workforce data brief describing the serious challenges hospitals and health systems face as they continue to battle COVID-19. 

AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack said hospitals face a trifecta of critical challenges: workforce shortages; maintaining financial viability amid extraordinarily high costs for labor, equipment and supplies; and an inadequately funded public health system.

Wright L. Lassiter, president and CEO of Henry Ford Health System based in Detroit, and chair of the AHA Board of Trustees, said the health system currently has about 1,000 nurse vacancies out of a total pool of about 9,000 nurses in the system. “As of this morning, we still have approximately 75 beds closed due to staffing concerns, and that number was as high as 150 beds just 30 days ago,” he said.  

Bruce Flanz, president and CEO of MediSys Health Network in Queens, N.Y., said the cumulative effect of the ongoing pandemic on the health system’s staff cannot be overstated. “They are understandably tired, exhausted, and many are burned out, and this is despite all the wellness support that we have provided.” In addition, Flanz said as a safety-net organization with no cash reserves, “we are very dependent upon the government for financial support. We need federal funds like the provider relief monies that supported us earlier in the pandemic to pay for the increased workforce expenses and to cover our lost revenue.”

Ruby Kirby, CEO of West Tennessee Healthcare Bolivar and Camden Hospitals, said rural critical access hospitals such as hers have fewer resources to handle large influxes of patients, such as patients needing critical care. In addition, she said staffing agencies are recruiting not only registered nurses, but respiratory therapists. “So for example, in my hospitals, we have lost over 50% of our respiratory therapists and we cannot compete with the salaries that they're offering to recruit additional staff.”

Among other priorities, Pollack highlighted the recent letter AHA sent to Congress calling for the quick disbursement of remaining funding from the Provider Relief Fund and adding $25 billion to the fund; extending Medicare sequester relief; and giving hospitals more time to repay accelerated and advance Medicare payments.