County OKs $30M to get more nurses

Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday unanimously approved $30 million to send more nurses to Houstonarea hospitals strained by this latest surge in COVID-19 patients.

The money will come from Harris County’s allotment of the American Rescue Plan Act. County Judge Lina Hidalgo said while the entire sum will probably not be needed, court members need to act quickly to help short-staffed medical facilities.

“These nurses could be here within 72 hours,” Hidalgo said. “We need to hurry up and get that out the door.”

The 25-county region anchored by Houston on Monday reported more than 4,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations for the first time in the pandemic. More than 700 patients, 107 of them critical, were stuck in emergency departments waiting for an available bed, according to the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council.

The region reported 80 open ICU beds, though Hidalgo said the primary problem is a shortage of personnel to staff them.

In early August, the Harris Health System, which includes the Ben Taub and Lyndon B. Johnson hospitals, reported a shortage of 250 nurses.

Many medical staff who were close to retirement chose to do so, said Harris Health CEO Dr. Esmaeil Porsa. The largest contributor to the labor shortage,

he said, has been nurses leaving staff positions for high-paying temporary posts elsewhere.

“I can’t blame them,” Porsa said Aug. 2. “There are some very, very lucrative temporary agency positions for nurses and techs that are very attractive. And people are opting to go to those for some ridiculous singing bonuses and outrageous hourly rates.”

Hidalgo during Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting declined to say how much the county may pay for nurses, concerned it could putting the county in a poor negotiating position with medical staffing agencies.

Gov. Greg Abbott on Aug. 11 announced a plan to recruit 2,500 nurses from out of state to ease the burden on Texas hospitals.