Friday, March 17, 2023
ADVOCACY ALERT: Oppose HB 3338, Nurse Staffing Ratios
Durbin Introduces Bill to Expand the Healthcare Workforce
Register: AHA Annual Meeting April 24-25
Cynosure Health to Host Free Webinar on Resilience
Illinois COVID-19 Data
Briefly Noted
ADVOCACY ALERT: Oppose HB 3338, Nurse Staffing Ratios
The Illinois House Labor & Commerce Committee will hold a hearing March 22 at 9 a.m. on House Bill 3338, sponsored by State Rep. Theresa Mah, which would mandate one-size-fits all nurse staffing ratios in Illinois. This legislation is an excessive overreach that will create real barriers to care for hospitals and health systems working to best serve their patients and communities.
Nurse staffing ratios egregiously treat patients the same, nursing skills the same and hospitals the same. Achieving optimal nurse staffing is based on more than just numbers, because patients are more than just numbers. Your local hospital, in collaboration with their nursing staff, is the most qualified to make staffing decisions.
ACTIONS REQUESTED: Contact members of the House Labor & Commerce Committee and urge them to oppose and vote NO on House Bill 3338. To look up the members of the committee, their contact information and the hospitals in their districts, click here.
Submit an electronic witness slip to the committee, opposing House Bill 3338 by clicking here. When you fill out the form, be sure to mark the “Opponent” circle in Section III, and the “Record of Appearance Only” box in Section IV. This will indicate to the committee that you do not intend to provide oral or written testimony.
If you are a constituent of a committee member (i.e., you live or work in that member’s district), you can send an email message to that member by clicking here.
Click here to access IHA’s member memo, which includes talking points on House Bill 3338. Click here to access a fact sheet on House Bill 3338.
Durbin Introduces Bill to Expand the Healthcare Workforce
Yesterday, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin introduced IHA-supported legislation to bolster the healthcare workforce by more than doubling funding for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), which provides scholarships and loan repayment to healthcare professionals serving in rural and underserved communities.
According to the press release, the bipartisan Restoring America’s Health Care Workforce and Readiness Act includes a three-year reauthorization of the program that would double mandatory funding from $310 million up to $625 million in fiscal year (FY) 2024 and increase up to $825 million in FY26. This legislation follows Sen. Durbin’s leadership in securing a record $1 billion in scholarship and loan repayment funding for NHSC and Nurse Corps in the American Rescue Plan Act to recruit more doctors, nurses, dentists and behavioral health providers to underserved rural and urban areas.
“Our health care professionals put their all into caring for their patients, but the demands of the pandemic have exacerbated workforce shortages, especially in our underserved rural and urban communities. Through scholarship and loan repayment, the National Health Service Corps is the premier program to build the pipeline of doctors, nurses, dentists, and behavioral health providers across America,” said Sen. Durbin.
According to the press release, nationwide, more than 21 million patients were delivered care by NHSC providers. Across Illinois, more than 935 clinicians with NHSC serve in community health centers and hospitals. The American Hospital Association also supports the legislation, which is cosponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).
Register: AHA Annual Meeting April 24-25
There is still time to register to join IHA at the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Annual Membership Meeting April 23-25 in Washington, D.C. at the Marriott Marquis Hospital.
We hope to see you in our nation’s capital in April, as hospital leaders from across the country come together to discuss essential healthcare issues impacting patients, healthcare workers and communities. IHA will host dinner for IHA members during the meeting.
Registration for the IHA dinner is here, and the separate registration to attend the AHA Annual Meeting is here.
Contact us with questions.
Cynosure Health to Host Free Webinar on Resilience
Hospital and healthcare leaders looking to gain strategies for building resiliency within their organizations are encouraged to participate in a free webinar on April 20. “Leading in Tough Times: Applying Cross-Sector Lessons on Resilience to Health Care” will feature a panel of resilience experts from around the world. This webinar, part of Cynosure Health’s Resilience Roundtable, will explore the cultural, strategic and operational tools to help healthcare organizations persevere during adverse times.
The webinar begins at 9 a.m. and will be divided into three, one-hour sessions:
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Setting a Strategy That Promotes Resilience, 9-10 a.m.
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Creating a Culture That Enables Resilience, 10-11 a.m.
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Operationalizing Systems to Respond to Unexpected Circumstances, 11 a.m.-noon
The registration link can be found here and a complete list of panelists can be found in the event flyer. For questions and additional information, contact Natalie Graves at ngraves@cynosurehealth.org.
Illinois COVID-19 Data
The Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) is following the lead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with weekly reporting of new COVID-19 cases and deaths. IDPH reports weekly data on Wednesday of each week for the previous week ending Sunday. IDPH will continue daily reporting of ICU bed availability and hospital admission data.
Briefly Noted
U.S. maternal mortality rates hit a history high in 2021, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than 1,200 people died of maternal causes in 2021, representing a 40% increase from 2020. The CDC tracks the deaths of those who die while pregnant, during childbirth and up to 42 days after birth.