Hawaii will receive more than 500 healthcare professionals from out of state to help fight Covid-19, the Hawaii Department of Public Health announced. The state is receiving $46 million in funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to bring travel healthcare workers through staffing firm ProLink Healthcare, a Cincinnati-based healthcare staffing firm.
The department noted 46 clinicians were deployed this past weekend at Hilo Medical Center and Kona Hospital on the island of Hawaii to handle a surge in Covid-19 cases. The remaining staff is expected to arrive over the next three weeks.
“The needs in the hospitals have dramatically increased primarily because of the highly transmissible Delta variant,” said Hilton Raethel, CEO of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii. “Our emergency rooms, medical-surge units and intensive care units are being overwhelmed with patients who have not been vaccinated.”
The Department of Public Health reported the majority of positions are for medical-surgical nurses, critical care nurses and telemetry nurses. The remaining positions include respiratory therapists, emergency department nurses, medical technicians and behavioral health technicians.
Last fall, Hawaii brought in more than 200 out-of-state nurses and other specialists over a four-month period to supplement local staff. Dr. Elizabeth Char, director of the Department of Health, served as lead medical advisor on the initial contract with ProLink Healthcare. The earlier contract with ProLink has been extended to meet the current medical surge staffing needs.