Staffing shortages in Vermont nursing homes are leading to rising costs for Vermont hospitals who are forced to care for patients turned away from nursing home facilities, Maine Public reported Nov. 29.
Rutland (Vt.) Regional Medical Center cares for five to 10 patients a day who do not need a hospital setting but cannot be released because of the lack of a safe alternative for them.
Kathleen Boyd, MSN, RN, senior director of care management at Rutland Regional Medical Center, told Maine Public that insurance will no longer pay for these patients once they're stable, leaving hospitals to foot the bill.
"It's a huge, huge issue," Stephen Leffler, MD, president of Burlington-based University of Vermont Medical Center, told Maine Public. "Every single day, we have 50 to 70 beds taken by people who don't need hospital care, but can't leave the hospital.
To solve the problem, the state is using COVID-19 relief money to fund short-term grants for nursing homes to solve staffing issues.