Page 62 - BusinessWest Macrh 6, 2023

These forces have left hospitals to fill the gaps as best they can and, for the long term, focus energies — or even more energies, as the case may be — on attracting and retaining personnel across the board.
Indeed, Hatiras told BusinessWest that closing the staffing gap is critical because it will bring down the overall cost of doing business and help hospi- tals cope with lower amounts of COVID relief and revenue levels still below those from before the pandemic.
“With ARPA funds drying up, we’re going to have pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. So our emphasis is on clos- ing the staffing gap,” he said. “If we can do that, and not bleed money on the
“In healthcare, there is a great deal of concern, and the most concerning part is the continuing shortage of personnel, which has created this market for tempo- rary staffing at rates that are truly outrageous.”
tinually filling vacancies.
“We’re doing OK because we had
to respond to what was going on in
the market by creating even more attractive reasons for coming here — we raised our rates, we’re enhancing benefits, and at the same time, we’re looking at economic assistance for
the lower-earning employees,” he said. “Where it’s more difficult is with the professionals because the dollars are significantly more, so competing just on price is difficult. The key for suc- cess — what keeps people here and makes them come here — is the culture of the place, so we put a tremendous amount of effort in the 10 years I’ve been here on creating a good culture.
Now, it’s become a differentiator, and we’re pushing it even more. We’re an employer that listens to employees, responds to their needs, and cares. That’s what people want.”
Roose concurred, and told Busi- nessWest that the recent challenges that hospitals have faced have put even more emphasis on the impor- tance of people in the overriding task of providing quality care to patients — and the overall success of a provider.
“Never has it been more apparent, and critical, to realize that people are the vehicles through which we deliver healthcare,” he said. “We do not deliv- er services that can be provided by machines; we’re reliant upon the great skills of care providers — and we don’t take that lightly.”
Bottom Line
Moving forward, Roose said, as hospitals cope with these various challenges — and, again, there are many of them — state and federal governments need to step up and con- tinue to provide needed support.
“The ARPA funding and other sources of relief through the pan- demic and beyond, which is greatly appreciated, is not enough to close the gap from the challenges that we have encountered,” he noted. “The cost structure for delivering care has increased so dramatically, the models for fee-for-service care have not shift- ed quick enough, and the rates from commercial and other payers has not kept up with inflation.
“So even with all that support, hos- pitals like Mercy Medical Center are expected to lose about $25 million this year, which is very similar to what it was the year before, and Trinity Health Of New England lost $65 mil- lion in fiscal 2022 from operations,” he went on. “And that puts incredible stress on hospitals.”
Indeed, it does, and these losses, and the forces behind them, explain why hospitals are at an inflection point, and why change is needed if they are to move from critical condi- tion fiscally to something far more sustainable. BW
SPIROS HATIRAS
expense side, I think we’ll be OK; I think we’re poised to have a good year, as long as we’re able to attract nurses here.”
Elaborating, he said closing this gap
involves making HMC a preferred place to work, one where applicants with choices will want to go — and hopefully stay, thus reducing the high cost of con-
Celebrate the Difference Makers!
Helix Human Services,
formerly the Children’s Study Home
Nathan Costa
President, Springfield Thunderbirds
Burns Maxey
Board President, CitySpace
Claudia Pazmany, Executive Director, Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce; and Gabrielle Gould, Executive Director, Amherst Business Improvement District
Join us as we honor the 2023 Difference Makers with a celebration of their contributions to our community. Come get inspired!
Thursday, April 27, 2023 5:30 - 9:00 p.m.
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Gary Rome
President and CEO, Gary Rome Auto Group
Henry Thomas
President and CEO, Urban League of Springfield
Steven and Jean Graham
Owners, Toner Plastics Group
Springfield Ballers
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