National Guard Called To Help Understaffed Nursing Homes

The New York Times: National Guard Empties Bedpans and Clips Toenails at Nursing Homes
Over the past two weeks, 30 Guard members have been working as certified nursing assistants at North Ridge Health and Rehab, a sprawling nursing home in suburban Minneapolis, which has been so badly hobbled by an exodus of employees that administrators have been forced to mothball entire wings, severely limiting new admissions. (Jacobs, 12/22)

Burlington Free Press: FEMA Sends First Responders To UVM Medical Center To Help With Omicron Variant Surge
The Federal Emergency Management Agency sent 20 first responders to UVM Medical Center on Dec. 17 to help with record numbers of patients, many of whom are "very sick" with COVID-19 or other serious conditions, according to a news release. "We are very thankful that the State of Vermont advocated for these federally funded resources and that we have been able to receive some of the deployment from across the state to shore up critical staffing areas," Dr. Stephen Leffler, president and chief operating officer of UVM Medical Center, said in a news release. (D'Ambrosio, 12/23)

In related news about hospitals that are struggling —

CNN: For The Second Christmas In A Row, Hospital Workers Will Face The Trauma Of Covid-19 Patient Deaths 
With the potentially more transmissible Omicron now the most widely detected variant in the US, hospitals are preparing for additional Covid-19 cases as millions of Americans face infection. And for the second year in a row, many doctors and nurses on the frontlines of the pandemic will be treating these patients over the Christmas holiday. Haleigh Seizys, a Covid-19 ICU nurse at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, told CNN's Ana Cabrera on Wednesday that staff are "very worried about what's to come after the holidays," urging people to get vaccinated to protect themselves and others against severe illness. (Caldwell, 12/23)

Politico: Hospitals Grapple With Omicron — And Legal Brawl Over Vaccinating Staff
With Omicron cases surging and health care workers in short supply, hospitals and nursing homes are grappling with a patchwork of rules for vaccinating their staff against Covid-19 and in some cases begging off immunization requirements the Biden administration expected to start enforcing on Jan. 4. Court challenges brought by mostly Republican states have frozen the administration’s vaccine mandates for health workers in 25 states, upsetting an already delicate balance between patient safety and pandemic readiness as health facilities brace for a wintertime surge of cases. (Levy, 12/22)

New Hampshire Public Radio: As Federal Staff Depart Elliot Hospital, A Crisis Continues 
Michael Player recently visited New Hampshire for the first time, but he didn’t have a ton of time to see the sights. “I intend to come back to New Hampshire with my wife when I’m not working 12-hour shifts in a hospital,” says Player, who has been running a 24-person Disaster Medical Assistance Team at Elliot Hospital in Manchester, which is facing an unprecedented volume of COVID and non-COVID patients. After spending 11 days at Elliot Hospital, Player is returning to Virginia where he’ll continue working his day job until he’s called up again by the federal National Disaster Medical System to help another hospital in crisis. (Fam, 12/22)

The Boston Globe: Leaders Of 9 Massachusetts Hospitals Ask The Public To Do 5 Things To Help Control COVID-19 Surge
Leading health experts warn that Massachusetts hospital capacities have reached a “crisis point” due to rising COVID-19 cases and are urgently pleading with the public to take five steps to lessen the strain on its healthcare system. In a joint statement signed by the leaders of nine state hospitals Wednesday, health experts said emergency rooms and hospitals are “nearing full capacity” as the Omicron variant dominates the region ahead of the holiday season. Here are the five crucial steps residents can take to ease the COVID-19 strain on hospitals, as outlined by the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association. (Redefer, 12/22)

Also —

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Franklin County Health Director Resigns, Citing Threats Against Her
Franklin County’s health director has resigned, alleging threats of violence against her, county Presiding Commissioner Tim Brinker confirmed on Wednesday. Angie Hittson was hired by the county in October 2007, according to salary records. In 2013 she was promoted to director of the health department, she said on social media. She is a registered nurse, according to state records, and before working for Franklin County, she worked at St. Anthony’s Medical Center — now Mercy Hospital South — and SSM Health, according to her LinkedIn profile. But Hittson told the county in her resignation letter that she was overwhelmed by threats during the coronavirus pandemic, Brinker said, as the county worked to trace COVID-19 infections, coordinate quarantines, and hold vaccination clinics. (Merrilees, 12/22)

North Carolina Health News: Senior Centers Use Holiday To Reunite Lonely Amid COVID 
In January, staff and volunteers at a Wendell senior center were already making plans for this December’s holiday fest for members, one that would make up for a COVID-canceled event last Christmas. It still took 30 volunteers and two staff people the better part of a year to assemble and present this December’s Eastern Wake Senior Center gathering — with no cash budget. The result was a combination family reunion, pandemic healer, gift presentation and social therapy session for a local population of about 100 older people in need of this kind of relief. (Goldsmith, 12/23)

KHN: As Patients Fell Ill With Covid Inside Hospitals, Government Oversight Fell Short 
One by one, the nurses taking care of actress Judi Evans at Riverside Community Hospital kept calling out sick. Patients were coughing as staffers wheeled the maskless soap opera star around the California hospital while treating her for injuries from a horseback fall in May 2020, Evans said. She remembered they took her to a room to remove blood from her compressed lung where another maskless patient was also getting his lung drained. He was crying out that he didn’t want to die of covid. (Weber and Jewett, 12/23)

Anchorage Daily News: Dozens Of Alaska Doctors Receive Packages, At Work And At Home, From Group Promoting Unproven COVID-19 Treatments
Doctors asking the Alaska State Medical Board to crack down on colleagues spreading COVID-19 misinformation say they’re receiving holiday packages, some at their homes, from a group pushing for alternative treatments like ivermectin. The delivery of the packages from the Alaska Covid Alliance came off as threatening and invasive, several doctors said. Each package — at least some of which arrived in holiday-themed gift bags — included chocolates, a letter acknowledging the recipients’ signatures on a recent letter to the medical board and a 28-page pamphlet advocating for mostly unproven COVID-19 treatments. (Berman and Hollander, 12/22)