LEBANON — Dartmouth-Hitchcock says just like other health care providers, it too, is experiencing staff shortages during the coronavirus pandemic that range from nursing positions to food service workers.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock said Wednesday it organized a “Managing and Staffing to Capacity” task force to identify solutions to the shortage, especially in the inpatient units and other care areas at its flagship hospital in Lebanon.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock also began planning for reallocation of resources and staff. Earlier this year, it increased the starting rate for newly licensed nurses to $30 per hour, and made wage adjustments for experienced clinical nurses and nurse supervisors. It plans to provide a 2% wage increase for other staff beginning in October.
Joni Menard, task force leader, said “the overall situation continues to be challenging as clinical demand increases and the supply of traveling staff is depleted across the nation.”
MONTPELIER — Vermont has reported its first COVID-19 death in a person younger than 30 years old.
The state finished August with 17 deaths amid a delta variant-driven surge of cases, according to totals reported Wednesday by the Vermont Department of Health. That’s 11 more deaths than state officials had forecast for August at the beginning of the month.
They include one Vermonter between 20 and 29 years old who died earlier this week after contracting COVID-19.
Of the 277 Vermonters who have died since the start of the pandemic, three were in their 30s and seven were in their 40s.
“Every single one of the Vermonters who have died as a result of the pandemic is a deeply felt and tragic loss, and it’s especially heartbreaking when someone so young is taken,” Health Department spokesperson Ben Truman said via email.
BURLINGTON — A number of Vermont medical groups are calling for the state to do more to protect children who are too young to be vaccinated from COVID-19.
At least five groups, including the Vermont chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital, are calling for measures that include universal masking in schools until children under age 12 become eligible to be vaccinated.
Currently the Agency of Education is recommending schools require masks for the first 10 days of school. After that, any school where 80% of students eligible for the vaccine have received it, vaccinated students and staff could remove their masks.
But children under age 12 are not eligible for vaccination. It’s unclear when any of the COVID-19 vaccines will be approved for children under age 12.
The Burlington Free Press reported that Rebecca Bell, director of pediatric critical care at UVM Children’s Hospital, said they support the idea of requiring universal masking at the beginning of the school year.
“We urge continued universal masking regardless of vaccination status or school vaccination rate for students and staff until those under 12 years of age have had the opportunity to be vaccinated and when epidemiologic data tells us it is safe to remove masks,” a number of the medical groups said in an Aug. 31 letter.
Secretary of Education Dan French has said the masking guidelines are recommendations, but most districts have chosen to implement the recommendations.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness New Hampshire will receive nearly $125,000 to train law enforcement and first responders to more effectively respond to people in a mental health crisis.
The training is also intended to promote mental wellness for law enforcement and first responders in response to increased rates of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide.
The alliance “looks forward to partnering with the NH Department of Safety, NH Police Standards and Training and municipal police and fire departments in accomplishing the goals of the grant,” Executive Ken Norton said in a statement Thursday.
The state’s congressional delegation announced the grant, saying how the coronavirus pandemic has shown the need to strengthen mental health services. The grant is from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.