Calls to shore up 海角换妻鈥檚 health care workforce are getting louder, after the latest COVID variant placed heightened stress on the state鈥檚 nurses, physicians, behavioral specialists and other medical staff.
Advocates and lawmakers say programs they鈥檝e long pushed for 鈥� workforce training, medical school loan forgiveness, higher nurse-to-patient ratios, simpler license transfers from other states and medical liability insurance reform, to name a few 鈥� are all on the table heading into the 海角换妻 General Assembly鈥檚 regular session, which begins Feb. 9.
Fallout from the pandemic, which has across the state鈥檚 health care sector, could drive the change they鈥檝e been seeking.
Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, ranking member of the Public Health committee, said she鈥檚 spent six years beating a drum for the state to boost recruitment and retention efforts for nurses, doctors, certified nursing assistants and other medical professionals.
鈥淚t has been somewhat falling on deaf ears until now,鈥� Somers said.
The situation has become more urgent.
The Governor鈥檚 Workforce Council estimated the state鈥檚 annual workforce , 鈥渨ith significant shortages in nursing, certified nursing assistants, skilled technician roles and long-term and home health care.鈥� But since the start of the pandemic, the number of people employed in 海角换妻鈥檚 education and health services sector has declined by 14,500.
鈥淭hose that we do have in the health care field are so burned out,鈥� Somers said.
Charese Chery, chief human resources officer at Oak Hill, which runs group homes and classes for people with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities, is seeing that first-hand.
鈥淭he impacts of the pandemic have been severe. We haven鈥檛 been able to fill our positions, and we have a crisis on our hands,鈥� Chery said recently , 鈥淧ulse of the Region.鈥�
Oak Hill typically employs a statewide staff of about 1,300, but during the pandemic, it鈥檚 been hard to maintain those numbers. 鈥淥ne day I was looking at the vacancy report, and we were up to 200 vacancies. I almost fell out of my chair,鈥� Chery said.
Medical professionals say the situation is only going to get worse, given the approaching wave of retirements among the baby boomer generation. Not only will that deplete the ranks in the medical field, but those retirees will need medical care, too.
According to a report from the 海角换妻 Data Collaborative and the Center for Nursing Workforce, the number of nurses in the state aged 60 or over, 7,917, is of those under 30.
Sherri Dayton, a registered nurse at the Plainfield Emergency Care Center, said, 鈥淲e have to make this field more appealing. Right now, in the middle of a pandemic, it鈥檚 not very appealing.鈥�
Dayton, who represents the health care division within the 海角换妻 chapter of the AFT union, said one way to ease the strain on nurses is to mandate higher nurse-to-patient ratios in the state.
鈥淗ealth care professionals aren鈥檛 allowed to have any work-life balance right now,鈥� she said.
Relief on the way?
State and industry leaders have put forth some programs to provide relief to the medical workforce during the pandemic. Last fall, the governor signed an executive order allowing the certification of 鈥溾�� who had completed an 8-hour online course. Earlier this year, the state designated $70 million in federal American Rescue Plan funding to , including health care. Hartford HealthCare and Quinnipiac University recently announced ; as part of the partnership, Hartford HealthCare will donate $5 million to the university to support the program.
And on a recent visit to Torrington, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., outlined his efforts to secure federal funding for workforce development in the health care and public health sectors.
鈥淲e are trying to stack a pipeline of young people, people transitioning from one career to the next, so that we can make sure that we fill this gap right now that we know we have,鈥� Murphy said.
Incentives to stay
Training highly qualified medical professionals like nurses and doctors takes years 鈥� there鈥檚 no quick fix. And once they鈥檙e trained, there鈥檚 no guarantee they鈥檒l stick around 海角换妻. According to the 海角换妻 State Medical Society, the state retains only roughly one-third of the residents and fellows who train here 鈥� of 45%.
A proposal put forth during last year鈥檚 legislative session sought to establish a grant program for community health centers that could be used as a retention incentive to provide medical school loan repayment for doctors, nurses and mental health providers. , which also included additional recruiting, retention and loan repayment programs targeted specifically for mental health specialists, didn鈥檛 pass.
aimed at recruiting and retaining nurses and other primary care providers through loan forgiveness have gone unfunded. Meanwhile, offer a range of scholarship, repayment, loan assistance and forgiveness programs.
鈥淲e are competing with every other state for health care workers,鈥� said Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, co-chair of the Public Health committee. 鈥淲e have the extra challenge of being a high cost-of-living state.鈥�
At , Rep. Kerry Wood, D-Rocky Hill, said, 鈥満＝腔黄� is not a very business-friendly state for those that are entering the medical field.鈥� Student loan assistance is critical, she said, 鈥渆specially for the skilled workforce we鈥檙e desperately needing.鈥�
Rep. Terrie Wood, R-Darien, also speaking on the panel, highlighted the issue of delays in health care licensing. One of her constituents, a nurse practitioner, recently had trouble getting her license transferred to 海角换妻.
鈥淭hat shouldn鈥檛 have happened,鈥� Wood said. 鈥淪omebody who is a highly qualified nurse practitioner should not have to wait two months for her certification approval and license to practice in 海角换妻.鈥�
According to the Center for Nursing Workforce鈥檚 study, among 海角换妻鈥檚 86,483 licensed nurses, only roughly half are practicing in the state.
Movement on mental health
Lawmakers鈥� efforts have already kicked off with several . Last week, the state Republican Party laid out its priorities on the issue, including increased access to mental health care; support for the mental health workforce; addressing the 鈥測outh mental health crisis鈥�; and improvements to screening and support for maternal mental health.
But, Somers said, 鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to allow them to forget we need physicians, too.鈥� Mental health services are one of many things the public health committee will be looking at this session, she said.
鈥淲hen you talk to pediatricians, when you talk to primary care, they are dealing with people with mental and behavioral issues,鈥� Somers said. 鈥淚t needs to be all hands on deck looking at the most critical aspects in health care, with a primary look at behavioral health and mental health and a commitment to moving the needle in the right direction.鈥�
Steinberg said additional federal funding from the American Rescue Plan and other pandemic relief legislation presents an opportunity to put forth 鈥渆xtensive鈥� proposals to rehabilitate the state鈥檚 health care safety net.
鈥淐hildren鈥檚 mental health is the leading edge of the issue,鈥� he said.