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State hires vendor to staff 'strike teams'

Dec. 9—CONCORD — The Foundation for Healthy Communities in Concord will find and hire out-of-state health care staffing companies needed to man eight "strike teams" to fill the pandemic-fueled shortages in long-term care.

The Executive Council on Wednesday unanimously approved spending $6 million in federal American Recovery Plan Act grant money on this effort, a linchpin of the state's strategy for coping with a crisis of available hospital beds due to a surge of patients with COVID-19.

This plan creates more hospital bed availability by moving patients who have been waiting for a slot at a nursing home or other long-term face facility.

Councilor David Wheeler, R-Milford, said these contracts should make clear those working on these strike teams don't have to be fully vaccinated.

Wheeler said some taking this special assignment could come from in-state health care workers who have or will leave their hospital jobs due to a vaccine mandate, such as in the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health system.

"We have had employers risking their lives for the past year and a half and now, oops you're fired (due to the vaccine mandate) and by the way we are going to be hiring someone outside the state for up to $300 an hour," Wheeler said.

"It just seems wrong to me."

Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette said a federal judge earlier this month suspended the vaccine mandate for health care workers and there's already a high level of vaccination among the staff in nursing homes and assisted living settings.

She speculated most staffing companies are going to use temporary employees who are vaccinated so they can go to any setting, regardless of the state's mandate or lack of one.

Gov. Chris Sununu said for the past four to five months he's urged hospital administrators to consider the workforce staffing problems that a vaccine mandate could worsen.

But the governor said it's up to the hospitals and these staffing companies to decide the vaccination status of their employees.

"The business has the choice; it's their money," Sununu said.

"It's our money," Wheeler answered, referring to the federal grant that taxpayers are financing.

Sununu and Shibinette saw firsthand these strike teams in use while visiting Kentucky last summer when that state was going through a record surge in hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID-19.

Staff likely to come from southern states

Jonathan Ballard, HHS' chief medical officer, said many of the 32 to 35 medical staffers coming here will arrive after a 13-week mission in the southern states.

"We will not be supplanting any lost employees. This is focused solely on creating additional beds and more capacity," Ballard said.

Without dissent, the council approved three other requests that are part of Sununu's hospital bed strategy that allows HHS to accept $64 million in federal money and transfer another $26 million within its budget to address this problem.

"Our health care system is under strain right now, crackling, buckling," said Councilor Cinde Warmington, D-Concord.

"I applaud your efforts to bring this forward to provide some relief."

The state identifies more hospital bed availability out the "front door" by granting special licensing privileges so ambulatory surgical centers can care for hospital patients.

This could serve as many as 75 hospital patients in those surgical centers.

Shibinette said for now this will be limited to those surgical centers either owned or on the campuses of existing hospitals.

The state has identified up to 30 beds in rehabilitation hospitals that could take long-term care patients for a time to relieve pressure on nursing homes.

Klandrigan@unionleader.com