Four years into the pandemic, I look at our hospital staff and am proud that, unlike many other hospital systems, we have been able to retain the majority of our talented team members. . We were able to weather this storm by prioritizing our most valuable asset: our employees.
We're often asked how we did it, and I always admit it wasn't rocket science. Simply put, we have chosen to unwaveringly support our employees. At a time when many health systems have had to cut salaries to reduce costs, we made a conscious decision to recognize and celebrate the important role each member plays. Not only did we keep salaries as they were, we also gave each employee, regardless of role, an $8,000 bonus to show our deep appreciation for our frontline heroes.
A healthy and resilient Idaho requires investment in health care workers.
But no amount of retention can address Idaho's growth and increasing provider needs. It's time for Idaho to get serious about the health care worker crisis. still It affects our condition. Despite years of warnings and proactive recommendations, staffing challenges have reached dire levels.
Efforts to address labor shortages are hampered by a lack of political will and foresight. Initiatives like Idaho LAUNCH have been successful in increasing student interest, but there are rarely enough seats at Idaho universities and local residential facilities to continue to grow the health care workforce as needed. . From a supply and demand perspective, we have taken care of the demand, but the supply side remains severely neglected. Recommendations to allocate additional funding to universities to strengthen their workforce of critical health professionals have fallen on deaf ears, and hospitals like ours are struggling to fill critical open positions.
We are already feeling the effects of this neglect. In our hospitals, critical positions in respiratory therapy, laboratory technology, and nursing have remained unfilled for months. Competing job postings have been published for six months to a year, often without a single application. This is an especially difficult challenge for a rural hospital like ours. Due to staffing constraints, we have had to limit admissions to nursing homes, and other departments have had to have staff work overtime or cover shifts with on-call staff in place of regularly scheduled staff. It was. While these solutions may save us for the time being, this is not a sustainable situation in the long term.
If you're wondering why people living in large cities across the state should care about medical staffing in rural communities, it's because it affects all of us. It was the first time in my career during a pandemic that helicopters brought in patients from Pocatello, Twin Falls, and Boise. Everyone needed to work together to provide patients with the space and quality care they deserve. Within our healthcare ecosystem, everything is interconnected.
Gone are the days of rhetoric and half-measures. Idaho's health care worker crisis requires urgent and decisive action. We must prioritize investments in education and training programs to strengthen the pipeline of health professionals and ensure future generations have access to the care they need.
My concern for the future of health care in Idaho extends beyond hospital walls. It's a question of whether Idaho can remain a safe and prosperous place for our families and future generations.
Healthcare organizations like Minidoka are a testament to the resilience and compassion of communities that come together in times of crisis. But don't choose to ignore solutions and push yourself deeper into challenges that could be avoided with attention and support.
