NEWS

Georgia team assists staff-strapped Kent Hospital

By EMMA BARTLETT
Posted 2/9/22

By EMMA BARTLETT For twelve hours a day, seven days a week, 16 members of the Health and Human Services ASPR (Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response) Division from Georgia have been assisting Kent Hospital's staff. According to Ken Montville,

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NEWS

Georgia team assists staff-strapped Kent Hospital

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For twelve hours a day, seven days a week, 16 members of the Health and Human Services ASPR (Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response) Division from Georgia have been assisting Kent Hospital’s staff. According to Ken Montville, Kent Hospital’s Safety and Emergency Preparedness Specialist and Acting Safety Officer, the hospital is averaging between 40 to 80 missing staff members per day – a result of individuals either quarantining or are testing positive. The night shifts have been hit the hardest, causing the additional help to work from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m.

ASPR leads the nation’s medical and public health preparedness, response and recovery from disasters and public health emergencies; they collaborate with hospitals, healthcare coalitions, government and more.

“These two teams and non-clinical staff have been absolutely a blessing in helping us,” said Montville.

The Georgia team will be with the hospital for two weeks and then go travel home by government provided transportation. They are the second team to assist the hospital with the first being from Florida. The Florida team arrived in mid-January and stayed until the end of that month. The latest group of ASPR members consists of providers, nurses, paramedics and support staff – all of whom immediately jumped into helping out, whether it be monitoring patients or administering medication in their areas of expertise.

Aaron Lunsford, a safety officer PIO of the Georgia team, said his group has been treated very well, working shoulder to shoulder with Kent staff. A good portion of his team is working in the emergency room and intensive care unit (ICU). The workers are staying at a nearby hotel and are transported to the hospital for their shifts.

Jim Ginda, Kent Hospital’s Respiratory Care Manager has one of the Georgia team members working in the respiratory unit. He has been in this position for eight years and never seen a greater turnover in staffing. Ginda said that times have been hectic with the staffing shortage. Some people have decided to leave the profession or retire while others are leaving for travel staffing agencies where they can make more money as traveling medical professionals. This has resulted in the hospital hiring younger individuals who have anchors in the community.

Ginda said the Georgia team is incredibly professional and has helped boost morale.

Right now, Ginda said 50 percent of the ICU is Covid positive. Kent Hospital’s emergency room can see anywhere between 50 to over 100 individuals in a 24 period. Montville said they are fortunate to see the decline in Covid admissions, however, they are seeing more staff test positive. In the emergency the maximum number of patients one nurse can have is five. In the ICU, the ratio is two patients to every one nurse. Since it is unsafe to go past that ratio, the hospital cannot admit more individuals – resulting them in boarding in the emergency room until they can be admitted.

In an announcement on Feb. 1, Governor McKee said that ten hospitals – including Kent Hospital – would receive four National Guard members from the state to assist in staffing shortages.

“I am truly grateful to General (Chris) Callahan and the National Guard for their consistent support in this effort and throughout the pandemic,” said Governor McKee. “This is the result of weeks of close coordination between my office, the Rhode Island National Guard, the Rhode Island Department of Health, the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency and local hospital leadership and is an important part of our strategy to support hospital staffing.”

Of the four National Guards helping, one will provide patient transportation within the hospital, one will support close circuit patient monitoring and two will serve as Covid screeners. As of right now, Kent Hospital does not know if it will receive anymore ASPR workers after the Georgia team leaves.

Georgia, Kent

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