The state Department of Health's request for $18.1 million in federal coronavirus relief funds to help hospitals open 54 more intensive care unit beds for covid patients won the support of the state's American Rescue Plan steering committee on Thursday afternoon.
The 15-member steering committee -- appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to recommend the best uses of $1.57 billion in federal American Rescue Plan funds -- endorsed the department's request in a voice vote with no audible dissenters. The committee includes nine Hutchinson administration officials and six state lawmakers.
The steering committee's action came a day after state Rep. Jeff Wardlaw, R-Hermitage, asked Health Secretary Jose Romero why he didn't ask the panel to vote on the request Wednesday if the request was so critical.
Romero said then, "We respectfully wanted to give you time to analyze this."
Committee Chairman Larry Walther said Thursday that immediately after Wednesday's meeting ended, committee members expressed interest in approving the request so the Legislative Council could consider it today.
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"This would allow for the possibility of [Legislative Council] review Friday, which would accelerate the timeframe for establishing new beds," said Walther, who is also secretary of the state Department of Finance and Administration. "We appreciate the Legislature's willingness to consider this request at [today's] meeting."
Romero told the panel Thursday there are about 1,100 intensive care unit beds for adults in the state, but not all of these beds are capable of supporting covid-19 patients.
"As of today, 48.9% of the ICU beds are occupied by covid-infected patients and requiring intensive care," he said.
In the past two weeks, COVIDComm -- a system which helps find beds for coronavirus patients -- has reported there have been only a few days in which an ICU bed could rapidly be identified for a patient needing transfer, Romero told the panel on Wednesday. That means that individuals have to wait in the emergency room before they are hospitalized or have access to a critical care bed, he said.
The Department of Health requested the following amounts to hospitals:
• $12.42 million to CHI St. Vincent's Little Rock campus for 24 beds and CHI St. Vincent's Hot Springs campus for 12 beds, both for 60 days at $5,750 per bed per day.
• $3 million to St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro for 10 beds for 60 days at $5,000 per bed per day.
• $2.736 million to Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff for eight beds for 60 days at $5,700 per bed per day. (Romero corrected himself from the day before, when he said these beds were for 90 days.)
"All three institutions that are going forward are not-for-profit hospitals and we can apply for reimbursement from [the Federal Emergency Management Agency]," Romero said.
Rep. Fran Cavenaugh, R-Walnut Ridge, said, "We can apply through FEMA for reimbursement, but ... if I remember correctly, there is no guarantee that we will get that money. Is that correct?"
Romero said, "That is my understanding."
Cavenaugh asked, "Does that also apply to the money that Baptist got?"
Romero said, "Baptist can apply for that."
On Wednesday, Romero told the panel that Baptist Health has added 33 covid-19 ICU beds in the past two weeks with American Rescue Plan funds. Meanwhile, Unity Health White County Medical Center in Searcy has continued to struggle a bit in getting enough staffing to get nine covid-19 ICU beds on line.
Chad Aduddell, chief executive officer for the CHI St. Vincent, said in a letter dated Tuesday to the Department of Health, "Currently the greatest challenge we are facing is the demand for nursing and other critical members of the care team.
"In order to meet our commitment proposal, St. Vincent would be required to secure contract staff from outside the state and incentivize current staff to work additional shifts in a short time," Aduddell wrote in his letter. "The compressed timeline to recruit and hire staff entails considerable expense and financial risk for the organization."
The most significant challenge to increasing capacity by eight ICU beds at Jefferson Regional Medical Center is securing adequate staffing of nurses and other caregivers, president and CEO Brian Thomas said in a letter dated Thursday to the Department of Health.
"We believe that we can quickly achieve the quick increase of the first four (4) ICU beds by utilizing current staff working additional shifts beyond their normal workload," Thomas wrote. "However, to avoid burnout, we will immediately begin to recruit contract nurses from outside the state of Arkansas to staff these additional ICU beds."
Recruiting and paying for these contract nurses will result in substantial expense and a financial risk to Jefferson Regional Medical Center, he said.