DSHS to dispatch Rapid Response nursing teams to care facilities with staff shortages
The state Department of Social and Health Services is preparing to send help to some of the state’s struggling long-term care facilities.
In response to the continuing rise in COVID-19 cases across the state, DSHS will use $1.3 million in CARES Act funding to contract with temporary nursing agencies to provide six Rapid Response Crisis Staffing teams that will be deployed to long-term care facilities facing staffing shortages.
More than 400 of the state’s 4,100 facilities are currently reporting active COVID-19 cases among residents or staff.
“As COVID-19 cases spike across Washington state, many long-term care and developmental disabilities facilities and agencies, including nursing homes and assisted living facilities, are struggling to maintain staffing levels,” DSHS Secretary Cheryl Strange said in a statement.
The teams will use various COVID-19 reports to identify and respond to the most active areas around the state. Currently, those are King, Pierce, Snohomish, Clark, Yakima and Spokane counties. If future data shows a need for help elsewhere, the teams may be re-positioned.
“This program will provide qualified staffing support to facilities that experience a shortage, and offer a much-needed break to health care workers who have been on the frontline for months,” Strange said.
Typically, facilities that have been exposed to the coronavirus have struggled to fill in gaps. The six Rapid Response teams are made up of Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses and Certified Nursing Assistants who can provide immediate, short-term nursing and aide support at no cost to the facilities or agencies.
This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 5:45 AM with the headline "DSHS to dispatch Rapid Response nursing teams to care facilities with staff shortages."
