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8C1D50989E9725E887258773005C2A78 Hearing Summary

PUBLIC
BILL SUMMARY For THE LONG-TERM IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON COLORADO’S HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE AND THE BROADER SYSTEM

INTERIM COMMITTEE STATEWIDE HEALTH CARE REVIEW COMMITTEE
Date Oct 19, 2021
Location HCR 0112

The Long-Term Impact of COVID-19 on Colorado’s Health Care Workforce and the Broader System - Committee Discussion Only


	10:47:06 AM	Dr. Mark Johnson, President, Colorado Medical Society (CMS), presented on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on physicians and the impact patients who delayed or postponed health care during the pandemic have had on the health care system. He stated that the Delta variant has caused additional delays in care. He expressed concern that relationships with patients and patient trust in physicians have eroded. He provided examples of cases where physicians were threatened and aggressively questioned about the care they provided. He also discussed vaccine mandates for health care workers, burnout of the health care workforce, and a recent survey of physician designed to identify the burnout rate. He suggested that the state look for ways to support physicians to lower burnout rates, such as reducing administrative burdens.
	10:54:55 AM	Colleen Casper, Director of Practice and Government Affairs, Colorado Nurses Association (CNA), discussed healthy work environments for nurses and nursing assistants. Ms. Casper's presentation slides can be found on the committee's webpage at: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/2.1_cna_long-term_impact_of_covid-19_on_colorados_health_care_workforce_adn_the_broader_system.pdf. She discussed the practice standards for the nursing profession. She stated that a nurse's greatest fear is to speak out about adverse working conditions due to expected retaliation. She said nurses are being told not to speak about working conditions outside of the organization where they work. She referenced the increased incidents of violence towards nurses from patients. She told the committee that medication and medical equipment supplies that were low at the beginning of the pandemic have stabilized but workforce shortages have increased.
	11:04:01 AM	Joshua Ewing, Colorado Hospital Association (CHA), presented on the collaboration of the health care community during the pandemic and the current status of hospital admissions. Mr. Ewing's slide deck may be viewed at:https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/2_cha_the_long-term_impacts_of_covid-19_on_colorados_health_care_workforce_and_the_broader_system.pdf Mr. Ewing pointed out that one third of hospitals are anticipating staffing shortages and many metro hospitals are forced to go on emergency department divert. He explained that one quarter of hospitals are anticipating ICU bed shortages in the near future and that nearly half of all critical care ventilators are currently in use. Mr. Ewing discussed the shift in accessing care in hospitals due to delayed care and the acuity of patients is higher since care was delayed during 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He discussed aggressive acts by patients toward health care workers and how the pandemic exasperated this trend. He discussed doxing of health care workers personal information and that anger around government policy is being directed at hospitals and health care workers. Mr. Ewing discussed medical supply chain issues and burn out out among health care professionals.
	11:16:09 AM	Mr. Ewing presentation continued. He discussed increased regulatory activities that stress health care workers and the impact vaccine mandates have on the health care workforce. He discussed strategies focused on supporting those who take care of patients today; preparing those who will taking care of patients tomorrow; and recruit those who will take care of patients in the future. He discussed leveraging federal dollars to support health care workforce training and the training challenges for new health care providers. He suggested training health care workers to practice at the top of their scope of practice and to move into leadership roles.
	11:23:16 AM	Mr. Ewing referenced House Bill 21-1005, which established the Health Care Services Reserve Corps Task Force. He discussed updating and implementing the Colorado Health Workforce Development Strategy that was published in 2014 and can be found through the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_9bw7XSNmJ0jEqLO5PU9As3TK7zp2rPx/view. Mr. Ewing discussed the long-term goal of working to grow the workforce pipeline and diversifying the workforce.

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