Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette offered a strong visual on Thursday as she asked state finance officials for more flexibility in spending $ 90 million in federal aid to tackle the state’s hospital bed shortage.
Moving a single elderly person who doesn’t need acute hospital care to a nursing home would allow hospitals to treat up to 20 patients who really need that level of care, she said. The problem, Shibinette added, is that too few nursing homes have the staff to open beds, forcing overcrowded hospitals to send some patients out of the state.
“What we do know is that our hospitals are moving patients to Connecticut and Albany, New York, to get the right level of care they need,” Shibinette told the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee. “And we’re not just talking about COVID patients. We’re talking about patients with heart attacks and strokes and the like. “
The hospitals were 91 percent full on Thursday, she said. But the remaining 9 percent could be in pediatric and maternity wards and not be a real indicator of hospitals’ ability to admit more acute patients. Hospitalization of only COVID-19 patients reached 403 on Wednesday.
At least two hospitals are postponing non-emergency procedures to preserve bed space, and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health announced Wednesday that it would treat 62 patients across its system and would also consider reducing or increasing elective procedures if necessary move.
The committee approved Shibinette’s application and allowed her to proceed with several initiatives proposed by the state’s hospital administrators.
This includes eight “strike teams” of health workers who work in long-term care facilities. Shibinette said the state hopes to recruit staff from other states rather than New Hampshire health facilities.
“There are several (long-term care) facilities in the county and a few private institutions that have said that if you get us the staff, we can open a 25-bed unit in our nursing home and take these hospital patients,” Shibinette said called.
The department clarified a comment from the governor on Tuesday that team members would be paid up to $ 300 an hour. The state will use $ 6 million to pay the agencies, not team members, fees of $ 200 to $ 300 an hour. The agencies set the salaries.
Approximately $ 2.2 million of federal aid will be used as an incentive to convince nursing homes and rehabilitation centers to accept Medicaid patients while their eligibility is verified. If patients are denied Medicaid coverage, the state pays these providers directly.
The state will use $ 3.2 million to pay rehabilitation centers their standard rates to accommodate patients waiting for a care bed. And nearly $ 9 million is being offered to outpatient care providers to create emergency centers to treat acute patients in need of inpatient treatment.
The department was also authorized to use nearly $ 70 million of federal pandemic aid to increase the number of mobile vans and fixed locations that provide vaccines and booster doses, as well as COVID-19 testing. The money will also be used for the state’s Booster Blitz on December 11th, which will only offer booster doses by appointment at 16 locations. An individual can make appointments for up to five people at Impfungen.nh.gov.
Governor Chris Sununu, who asked committee members to support Shibinette’s motion, issued a statement after approving it. “I appreciate that the Finance Committee is accelerating action to approve these critical funds, which are a necessary first step in addressing the health care challenges in New Hampshire,” he wrote.
The Executive Board must also approve Shibinette’s expenditure requests. You could appear before the Council as early as next week, but that remained uncertain on Thursday.
This story originally appeared in the NH Bulletin.
Comments are closed.