Now that American Rescue Plan Act funds have expired, the next six to eight months will be telling of what challenges remain in addressing Rhode Island’s shortage of health care workers, says Joan Kwiatkowski, CEO of the PACE Organization of Rhode Island.
In 2021 the American Rescue Plan Act was passed, providing states with millions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds. Kwiatkowski says these funds have helped stabilize the staffing shortages spurred by the pandemic but time is running out to allocate and spend the money.
“Now that that has expired, I think we’re going to start to see some additional shifting and adjusting in terms of staffing, not to our favor,” Kwiatkowski said during Providence Business News’ Health Care Summit and Health Care Heroes Awards event held on April 4 at the Providence Marriott.
Kwiatkowski joined a panel of industry leaders who discussed several topics related to health care, including workforce challenges, access, affordability and inequities.
While there is certainly a long way to go in solving the staffing shortages, she said there are opportunities to develop Rhode Island’s health care workforce, especially at the high school level. Kwiatkowski spoke about a recent workforce development meeting she attended in which a high school student mentioned that had she not been introduced to nursing and emergency medicine in the eighth grade, she wouldn’t have thought of pursuing a career in health care.
“It’s clear that our opportunities are great,” Kwiatkowski said. “At the high school, we’re really poised to work with providers to develop more and more of a pipeline, but there’s a lot of work to be done there.”
In the longer term, Sen. Pamela J. Lauria, D-Barrington, agreed that it’s important to ensure Rhode Island’s educational institutions are helping to meet the state’s workforce needs. Lauria expects state lawmakers will be discussing the establishment of a state medical school, which would make that type of education more accessible for Rhode Islanders. The state only has one medical school, Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School.
“We need to make sure that we have a place that’s affordable for Rhode Islanders to get that education,” Lauria said.
In the short term, Lauria said boosting compensation and the state’s Medicaid reimbursement rates will be key, as doctors can make about 20%-30% more working in Massachusetts and Connecticut than in Rhode Island.
Dr. Michael Wagner, CEO and president of Care New England Health System, agreed, saying that compensation is uniquely important for Rhode Island because of its small size and the competition coming from surrounding states.
“We live in a complex environment, and we are a small state, so it’s relatively easy to take a job where a nurse might get paid 20% more by taking on a job in the [Foxborough, Mass.] area,” Wagner said.
He also pointed out that compensation plays a role in people’s decision of whether to enter health care and which field to specialize in. For example, Wagner said he’s noticed those working as radiology and ultrasound technicians are more likely to move from one organization to another based on small changes in compensation.
Wagner says increasing diversity is a major focus for Care New England’s workforce.
“I think that’s a very important part to create a work environment in which our patients see themselves in the workforce that’s taking care of them,” Wagner said.
Overall, Wagner says he noticed an improvement in Care New England’s workforce over the past year, as the company is relying on fewer travelers and there is a much lower turnover rate overall.
Dr. Kristin Russell, Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island chief medical officer, said increasing diversity has also been a priority and the insurer has boosted its diverse hiring by 40% over the past five years. Russell said Neighborhood has focused on employee retention initiatives such as tuition reimbursement and its Employee Resource Program.
“They’re real steps that have measurable results, which is exciting,” Russell said. “Not only internally but for our members to have a diverse provider base to interact with.”
Along with ongoing staffing shortages, Dr. Raj Hazarika, Point32Health Services Inc. chief medical officer and vice president of commercial products, said health care facilities have been facing a spike in costs.
Hazarika referenced a recent report by the Rhode Island Business Group on Health, which shows the percentage of household income that is going into health care costs rose to 28% in 2022 from 23% in 2012. Among the biggest drivers behind rising expenses were pharmaceutical and facility costs.
While different categories will need different solutions, Hazarika said it’s important for all hospitals to get an understanding of what is contributing to their rising costs to address them.
“Hospitals all around the country have to really look at the underlying cost structure,” Hazarika said, “and see [if there] are … other avenues [that] can take advantage of technology and, really over time, start to curb those costs.”
