Page 74 - BusinessWest December 9, 2024

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“There’s been a spike in things, which everyone is still trying to explain. We’ve seen a spike in cancers, a spike in heart conditions, spikes in cardiovascular and stroke ... people are very, very sick, sicker than in years prior.”
Hospitals
Continued from page 28
more chronic conditions; today, we’re at 70% Medicare, and that’s only to increase moving forward,” he went on, adding that these statistics explain why hospitals in this region are under more finan- cial stress than those in growth areas such as the Southwest and Southeast.
“People are living longer, and when they live longer, there are chronic conditions,” Banko continued. “Decisions made in your 30s, 40s, and 50s show up in your 70s and 80s ... you’re probably going to experience cancer, and you may experience heart disease or stroke, and you may need a hip replacement or spine surgery.”
Work in Progress
This surge in business presents a host of challenges, including crowded emergency departments, with backlogs of people getting into beds, and then backlogs when those people are ready for dis- charge because there is a lack of beds in nursing homes and other facilities.
“We have access issues,” Banko said. “It’s hard to access primary care and specialists, we don’t have physicians and workforce to care for the needs of the community, we don’t have enough beds ... we don’t have enough capacity.”
These capacity issues are compounded by financial struggles, which make it more difficult to make needed investments in facili- ties and personnel, he went on, adding that a big part of Baystate’s transformation plan is to invest and expand so that more people can be treated in this market and fewer people will have to go to Boston or other markets for care.
Looking ahead, he said 2025 and the years to follow will be “tough but invigorating.”
And these challenges come amid workforce issues, amplified by those aforementioned demographics — Boomer doctors, nurses, and other professionals are retiring — and the unprecedented levels
SPIROS HATIRAS
of stress generated by the pandemic, which prompted some to leave healthcare for other sectors or retire early.
Those we spoke with said there has been some easing on the workforce front, especially as hospitals offer incentives to nurses and other professionals, as well as more flexibility with hours and work/life balance. But the challenge persists.
One of the reasons why is capacity, said Hatiras, noting that incentive programs, which all area hospitals have now implement- ed, mostly result in professionals moving from one hospital or sys- tem to another, with no general improvement in numbers across the sector.
“I wish that, rather than us trying to attract staff that works somewhere else — when we hire someone, that leaves a hole some- where else — we could find some way to grow the pie rather than share it differently,” he said. “But if you’re a small player like us, in order to survive, you have to have staff. Unfortunately, the game we have to play is to make this place as attractive as possible to attract people here, even if it’s from other institutions, which I’d rather not do, but, unfortunately, I have to.”
To attract these professionals, HMC and other providers are focusing on culture, while also creating more flexibility with sched- ules, something that is in demand, especially from younger genera- tions of workers.
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30 DECEMBER 24, 2024
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