Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Maine, New Hampshire Call National Guard To Covid-Strained Hospitals
The Boston Globe: N.H., Maine Activate National Guard As Hospitals Strain Under COVID-19 Surge
Two New England states are turning to the National Guard to help manage the COVID-19 winter surge at hospitals and long-term care facilities struggling to treat high volumes of cases. New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu said the state’s Executive Council on Wednesday approved funding to bring in “strike teams” from outside the state to supplement staff at long-term care facilities, and the New Hampshire National Guard will deploy 70 members to hospitals to help with everything from clerical work to food service. (Brinker, 12/8)
Bangor Daily News: Maine Hospitals May Have To Ration Care For The 1st Time If Pandemic Worsens
Many of Maine’s hospitals have been making hard decisions for weeks about what kind of care they can provide. If the COVID-19 pandemic gets worse, they could be deciding who gets life-saving care and who does not. States including Idaho, Montana and Alaska have already activated their crisis standards of care, a last-resort blueprint that states use in emergency circumstances to allow hospitals and other health providers to prioritize care for people who are likeliest to live. (Andrews, 12/8)
AP: Wisconsin Requests Federal Help For Staff-Strapped Hospitals
Wisconsin’s top health official said Wednesday that 270 health care facilities have requested staffing help and the state has asked for medical reserve teams from the federal government to provide relief for long term care facilities facing worker shortages. The state reported three additional positive COVID-19 cases from the new omicron variant on Wednesday, after the first case was recorded on Saturday. The vast majority of cases, more than 99%, continue to be from the delta variant, said the state’s chief medical officer Dr. Ryan Westergaard. (Bauer, 12/8)
In related news —
Newsweek: PA Health System Runs Out Of Beds Due To COVID Surge, Patients Wait 10 To 20 Hours In ER
Geisinger, one of Pennsylvania's largest health systems has run out of beds due to the COVID surge, causing patients to wait 10 to 20 hours in the emergency department, officials said Wednesday. Officials said doctors and nurses are having to perform "waiting room medicine" on waiting patients. (Davis, 12/8)
Crain's Detroit Business: Michigan Medicine Cancels Surgeries In Midst Of COVID Surge
As of Wednesday, Michigan Medicine has canceled at least 40 surgeries this week as it deals with the latest surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations. The Ann Arbor health system is pulling staff and resources from its surgical teams to aid in the treatment of the 93 COVID-19 inpatients and rising levels of patients in its emergency rooms, administrators told reporters on a media call Wednesday. The administrators held the call as a means to beg the public to get vaccinated. (Walsh, 12/8)
Billings Gazette: 40% Of Positions Open At Montana State Hospital, Staff Blame Administration
For months, workers at the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs have raised the alarm about short staffing, inadequate training and an unqualified administration driving employees from the hospital, an exodus that they say puts patient care in jeopardy. (Larson, 12/8)
Also —
Stateline: Rural Midwives Fill Gap As Hospitals Cut Childbirth Services
For the past year or so, Toni Hill, a midwife in the lowlands of northern Mississippi, has received an influx of calls from women across the state who live in areas with no hospitals and only a smattering of health care providers. As COVID-19 rates increased, some pregnant women did not feel safe receiving care in a hospital or were unable to contact their providers. Others, who lived in the Mississippi Delta, did not have transportation for the three-plus hour trip to Jackson, the state capital. Hill quickly found herself very overwhelmed, she said. (Wright, 12/8)
