Resource Roundup: Emergency Staffing Resources

Posted on December 23, 2021 by Kari Everson

You have various emergency staffing resources available should you need to utilize them during the holidays.

This time of year, your senior care communities are full of fun and festivity as family and friends celebrate with the residents you serve. While joyous, vigilance is essential; the increase in visitors during this period of high transition and increased prevalence of the Omicron variant poses potential complications.

According to the CDC and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the Omicron variant is now the most prevalent.  Omicron spreads easily, and while it appears to cause less severe illness, there is an increased risk for breakthrough infections.  The CDC believes fully vaccinated people may still spread the Omicron variant despite having no symptoms. With this happening at a hectic time of year, some organizations may find themselves in a critical staffing situation.

We know how hard you have all worked over the last two years, and we know almost everyone has reviewed the staffing information that has been available for many months.  If you need to reference some of this information in the coming days easily, we decided to put some staffing resources together in one article for easy reference.

MDH has a crisis staffing line that staff will answer on off-hours and weekends.  That number is 833-454-0149. 

If you need to speak to someone about emergency staffing, they will want to go through your plan and discuss strategies already implemented. 

The MDH Website for staffing options lists these strategies. Plus, you can find information on recommendations for healthcare workers, defining crisis staffing shortages, and staffing options to consider during shortage situations. 

There is also an MDH Long-Term Care Emergency Preparedness webpage that has information about emergency staffing, including a contingency staffing template and training that we have been using for many months.  We sincerely hope you will not need this information in the coming days, but in case you do, we wanted to make sure it was toward the top of your inbox.

If you have questions on emergency staffing, please contact Kari Everson.