Page 29 - BusinessWest January 10, 2022

OUTLOOK 2022/HEALTHCARE >>
at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, agreed, although she, too, was optimistic about 2022 and beyond.
“I’m very much an optimist; I’m a glass-half- full kind of person,” she said. “I’m optimistic about the year ahead, despite the many chal- lenges we face now and into the future. But 2022 is going to be challenging, especially the first few quarters, because of COVID and the ramifications of both the current surge and previous surges.”
The new year will certainly get off to an ultra- challenging start, she went on, noting that Omi-
surge in the disease. So January is going to a par- ticularly tough time for this region, but what we’re seeing in the research is that, as quickly as this virus surges, it declines.
“With that, we need to make sure we have the capacity and capability of taking care of those patients who are COVID long-haulers, as well as those who have deferred and delayed care,” she went on. “And that is going to continue to be a challenge.”
Looking forward, those we spoke with said that perhaps the biggest challenge looming over the industry is a workforce crisis that
confident about what we’re facing in the next few weeks.”
Meanwhile, staffing up during this crisis is a difficult and very expensive proposition, with all hospitals forced to hire what are known as ‘con- tract nurses,’ often at rates of $5,000 per week or more, Roose noted.
As for workers leaving their jobs, the numbers tell the story; Keroack told the assembled press that Baystate had 1,800 vacancies at that point in time in a total workforce of 13,000, roughly 14% of its workforce. In normal times, the number of vacancies would be closer to 500.
“About one in five healthcare workers has left the field since the start of the pandemic, and clearly that has shown up in our institution as well,” he remarked. “It’s been especially hard for bedside caregivers; many nurses have taken early retirement, and it has also affected respiratory therapy and pharmacy, and it’s been hardest for our entry-level employees — medical assistants, various technical positions, nurses’ aides, envi- ronmental workers, food-service workers.”
Roose said the numbers are similar at Mercy, with vacancy rates of 10% to 15%, with ‘func- tional’ vacancy rates, those that take into account open positions but also those employees on leave, being much higher, in some departments as much as 30% or more.
At Cooley Dickinson, Watkins noted, the num- ber fluctuates anywhere between 9% and 12%, with the majority in nursing and nursing support.
In response to these developments, hospitals have made adjustments, said those we spoke
DR. MARK KEROACK
“About one in five healthcare workers has left the field since the start of the pandemic, and clearly that has shown up in our institution as well.”
was in evidence before the pandemic, especially among nurses, but has been exacerbated by COVID.
“We’re seeing those gaps just widen,” Roose noted. “The chasm between what we need to close is just wider.”
For the immediate future, hospitals and other providers will be impacted not only by people leaving their jobs, or the industry as a whole, due to retirement, burnout, and other factors, but also workers being infected by the
cron will test the healthcare system in every way imaginable, from capacity to workforce.
“We’ll get through this, but it’s going to be a challenging, challenging time for the next three to four months,” she told BusinessWest. “We tend to be about three weeks behind our neighboring states, meaning Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New York, in particular, when it comes to this
virus and being forced to the sidelines, as well as the huge toll the shortages take on those in the trenches.
“We’ve really put a lot on our people — we’ve asked them to do a lot, like coming in for extra shifts, filling in, and stretching themselves,” Kero- ack said. “If we were fully staffed with people who were feeling refreshed, we’d feel a lot more
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