The strain on the medical system from the two-year-old pandemic was under the microscope earlier this week when health-care professionals met with U.S. Senators John Boozman and Tom Cotton.
Among those in attendance for the Wednesday gathering in Little Rock was Ron Peterson, Baxter Regional Medical Center (BRMC) president and chief executive officer and chairman of the Arkansas Hospital Foundation.
The meeting included officials representing Arkansas’ hospitals, nursing homes, ambulance services and pharmacies examining the impact and future implications of COVID-19.
Peterson says state leaders stressed how the health-care system has been strained since the start of the pandemic and closer to home how it has impacted BRMC.
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The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, approved by Congress in 2020, provided billions in relief funds for health-care providers. Peterson told the senators while all health-care professionals benefit from the funding, extending the pause of repayments is also needed.
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There has been a serious workforce shortage in health care since the pandemic began, with Peterson noting there are 26 openings at BRMC. He says this is despite increasing the minimum wages from $11 to $15 an hour. He says the hospital has hired 53 traveling nurses, paying each between $150 to $180 an hour.
Sen. Cotton asked Peterson about staffing shortages, specifically the reasons employees give for leaving. Peterson says higher pay and burnout are the main reasons it is hard to retain employees.
Sen. Boozman says inflation and supply chain issues are to blame for some of the stress on health-care providers, while Cotton placed blame on federal regulations implemented during the pandemic.
Peterson says representatives of nursing homes agreed with federal regulations being partly to blame, saying the COVID-19 situation is much different now than it was when it began. Therefore, there are benefits to loosening regulations.
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