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Hochul Clears Way For Plan To Fill Hospital Staff Shortfalls Spurred By Vaccine Mandate

By Shannon Young | Politico  2:12 pm

 

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday greenlit the deployment of National Guard troops and retired health care workers to bridge staffing shortages the state anticipates when its Covid-19 vaccination mandate for hospital and nursing home staff takes effect at midnight.

Key context: The governor said an executive order she’s expected to sign Monday was not her “first position” — she’d prefer to have health care workers choose to get vaccinated and stay in their roles. But, she argued, the state needs to be prepared to act if critical facilities are unable to provide the appropriate level of care come Tuesday.

“I would’ve much rather it just been voluntary, but if I have to take steps to protect the people in terms of making sure I have replacements, if necessary, I need to take those steps now,” she said during an event at Bay Eden Senior Center in the Bronx. “And that executive order will do just that, so I’ll be signing that today.”

Details: The executive order will allow the state to make emergency adjustments to health care worker licensing requirements so retired doctors and nurses, or those currently barred due to scope of practice issues, can be called upon to help at hospitals and nursing homes.

The governor said Saturday that she was considering an emergency declaration so ���������� could bring in qualified health care workers licensed in other countries or states, as well as recent graduates, retirees and others. The state may also deploy medically trained National Guard members and work with the federal government to deploy Disaster Medical Assistance Teams.

Hochul said Monday that her administration will also establish an operations center to help hospitals and nursing homes fill staffing shortages sparked by the mandate, which requires nearly all workers at those facilities to show proof of vaccination. The center will allow the state to determine the resources it has on hand, including how workers at facilities with high vaccination rates can be deployed to those with lower vaccination rates, she said.

“What’s going to happen tomorrow is that these hospitals and nursing homes — who had warning that this was going to happen — will be working with us later today and tonight to figure out where people are needed and how we can deploy them in essential areas,” she said. “It is not going to be a perfect situation, but again, it’s preventable.”

With more than 12 hours left before the vaccination policy takes effect, Hochul further appealed to all ���������� health care workers to get inoculated against Covid-19.

“My number one job in this state is to keep people safe: clear and simple,” she said. “There’s no way to cloud that; there’s no gray area. I need to keep people in this state safe.”

Booster shots: Hochul also announced that fully vaccinated ����������ers, who are age 65-plus, immunocompromised or who work in frontline jobs — and received Pfizer’s Covid shot — can now get their free booster doses at sites across the state. ����������ers who received Moderna or Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine are not yet eligible for boosters.

Eligible individuals, who got their last vaccine dose at least six months ago, can sign-up for booster shots at pharmacies, doctors’ offices, clinics and other locations.