South Carolina is one of the most lethal states in the country for residents of nursing homes with COVID-19, according to a recent report by AARP. The state also faces a greater than average shortage of nurses and assistants.
The report, presenting self-reported data from nursing homes across the country collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, shows that from August 24 to September 20, for every 100 nursing home residents in South Carolina, 1 , 2 died of COVID-19 – the highest percentage in the country. The national rate was 0.48 for every 100 residents.
Team members in Palmetto state also faced greater risks of contracting the virus, with 4.1 out of 100 team members reporting a case during the study window. The US rate is 2.5.
More than a third of all nursing units across the state – or 35.2% – also had difficulty finding the necessary staff to care for patients during the study period. The national average for households facing staff shortages is 28.8%, with the best-ranked states with 51.1% shortages, according to the report.
Staff shortages also continue in SC hospitals, said Ship Ames, a press representative for the SC Hospital Association, despite the decline in the increase in patients with COVID-19 across the state of Palmetto.
“We are certainly doing much better now with a lot more resources and a lot more knowledge about how to respond to COVID-19,” said Ames, adding that access to treatments like Remdesivir has greatly changed the landscape of patient care. “We can see that hospitals have everything under control … but staff will continue to be a problem, as we are seeing spikes.”
The help of doctors and National Guard staff helped fill the hospital’s job gap at the start of the pandemic through examinations and other tasks, especially in the Pee Dee region of Myrtle Beach to Florence, he said.
In the future, SCHA has also advocated another solution to the shortage of labor in hospitals: an employment contract with the state.
“How can we use the state’s negotiating powers to help us get more employees for South Carolina?” Ames said, describing the issues that prompted SCHA to seek an employment contract for the hospital.
At this point, Ames is unsure whether the contact would apply to nursing facilities or not, as plans for the contract are still in their early stages.
As for personal protective equipment, Ames said that hospitals are reporting a much greater supply than in the past, thanks to internal supply chains and the articulation of local companies.
“We saw the need for PPE to decrease considerably as other supply chains were identified,” said Ames. “It really forced us to look inside our state.”
Still, at least in some nursing units, the need for PPE remains urgent.
According to the AARP study, compared to the national average, South Carolina fell short in terms of providing personal protective equipment, but not as much as other states. During the study period, 34.1% of nursing facilities across the state reported that they did not have enough PPE to last a week, compared with a quarter of residential nursing facilities in the country.
About 60% of nursing facilities in the states with the greatest scarcity reported having less than a week of PPE available.
“It remains on our list, something we check every week,” said Ames.
Talk to Molly Hulsey at 864-720-1223.