The calendar may say 2022, but if you’re feeling a bit of déjà vu, you’re probably not alone. While it’s a new year, many of the same issues and challenges of the past two years — weather events, power outages, and the rapid escalation of COVID-19 cases — are still with us.
Workforce issues, in particular, remain a deep concern, as the omicron variant continues to inundate hospitals, which are already reeling under massive financial losses and now find themselves struggling to provide enough health staff to care for the patients. And although this new year seems awfully similar to the past few, we remain hopeful that 2022 will have a better ending.
While we continue to work with our members on the immediate COVID-19 pandemic issues, your teams at Hospital Council and CHA are here to also support hospitals in all the other important issues facing your organizations. This includes constant communication and advocacy at all levels of government.
In addition, CHA and Hospital Council are also focusing on several key initiatives important to hospitals and the communities they serve, including:
- Addressing ambulance patient off-load times
- Addressing the increase in opioid overdoses and those with other behavioral health needs
- Working to hold insurers accountable by strengthening regulatory/agency enforcement
- Key legislation on disaster preparedness, affordability, and behavioral health
This is an aggressive agenda for 2022 that comes at the same time as COVID-19 and workforce issues are continuing to consume much of your hospitals’ resources and energy. But as hospitals have shown throughout the past two years, you’re not ones to back down from a challenge. In partnership with our Regional Associations and CHA — working in coordination at the local, regional, state, and federal levels — we have an important opportunity to help shape critical health policy and let hospitals’ voices be heard.
Lastly, please check your email for a critically important federal alert. We are asking our hospital leaders to urge their representatives to sign on to a “Dear Colleague” letter asking the White House to enlist the support of federal agencies to investigate reports of anticompetitive behavior from nurse staffing agencies. This issue has exacerbated the already significant workforce challenges during this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Your Hospital Council and CHA teams are here for you and your team as we again meet the health care needs of the communities we serve, especially in these challenging times.