As pandemic burnout decimates Vermontโs health care workforce, officials from the Department of Mental Health told lawmakers it would cost an additional $1.7 million to shore up staffing levels in psychiatric facilities this fiscal year.
The bulk of the money โ $1.4 million โ would cover one-time bonuses to staff members at state-run facilities in Berlin and Middlesex. About $225,000 would cover the cost of temporary staffing at a childrenโs crisis support center in Burlington. The federal government is expected to cover roughly $1 million. The rest of the money would come from state coffers.
โWe have holes all across the system right now,โ said Rep. Bill Lippert Jr., D-Hinesburg, who chairs the House Committee on Health Care. โAnd weโre having to work collaboratively to figure out how to plug these holes as we try to find some longer-term solutions, none of which are immediate or easy.โ
Vermontโs health care facilities struggled to hire and retain enough medical staff even before the pandemic. But the health care worker pool has shrunk significantly, as nurses and other providers retire or leave for other types of jobs. At the same time, more Vermonters are showing up at emergency rooms across the state with significant medical needs. A fair share of them are psychiatric patients, who often wait hours or days for an inpatient bed at facilities such as the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital in Berlin and the Vermont Therapeutic Community Residence in Middlesex.ย
Roughly half of the nursing positions at the Berlin psychiatric hospital are vacant, Mental Health Commissioner Emily Hawes told the committee. About 14 to 18 travel nurses work at the facility, which is licensed for 25 beds, but four beds are closed for lack of staff. The seven-bed facility in Middlesex, which often takes transfers from the Berlin hospital, has two open beds that Hawes said would be filled soon.
Department officials also asked lawmakers to allocate $225,000 to hire travel staff for Jarrett House, a six-bed facility in Burlington that supports children and youth in crisis. The center normally operates 24/7, but thereโs only enough staff to keep it open five days a week.
The shortage has already placed significant strain on staff, said Alison Krompf, deputy commissioner at the department of mental health.
โIt’s getting harder and harder and harder,โ she said.
Vermontโs unprecedented worker shortage is shaping up to be a top policy priority in this yearโs legislative session. Earlier this week, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Republican Gov. Phil Scott and state Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, D-Windham, unveiled a plan to shore up nurse training programs by increasing educator salaries.ย
Legislators also are considering an extension of Act 6, a law that allows temporary providers from other states to practice in Vermont without an in-state license.
