Pa. hospitals, nursing homes, child care centers warn of closures

PA officials give update on new cases of COVID-19

PA government officials give an update on the new positive and negative cases of COVID-19

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Hospitals, nursing homes and child care centers are asking Pennsylvania state government for more money to avoid closures amid a surge of coronavirus-related demands on staffing and equipment.

The demands came as the new cornavirus continued to spread in Pennsylvania, with the state reporting at least 851 cases and seven deaths.

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There is a “legitimate, credible threat” that some hospitals, without financial support from either the federal government or the state government, will close, said Andy Carter, president and CEO of the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania.

“It’s the sheer scale of the COVID-19 outbreak unfolding now that has the healthcare community saying, ‘we need government help,’” Carter said.

Protective N-95 face masks (Photo by EVA HAMBACH/AFP via Getty Images)

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The fund would help hospitals build surge capacity, retrofit critical-care units for highly infectious COVID-19 patients, hire more clinicians, pay for housing, establish on-site childcare facilities for healthcare workers and purchase protective gear, Carter told reporters on a conference call.

He did not provide a dollar figure, but said “we know it’s going to be an extraordinary amount to match the size of the potential surge of care that we will be providing.”

Carter said hospitals are scrambling to obtain enough protective gear to meet demand. Some facilities could run out of masks and other equipment in a matter of days or even hours as they become flooded with COVID-19 patients, he said.

The federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump last week, provides approximately $1.5 billion additional Medicaid dollars for Pennsylvania, nursing home organizations say.

Two nursing home associations, LeadingAge PA and the Pennsylvania Health Care Association, and labor unions that help staff the homes requested help getting protective equipment, a 3% increase in reimbursement rates and a minimum sum of $290 million to nursing homes in emergency aid.

They also asked for emergency aid to offer paid sick leave to all staff who have exhausted their sick leave benefits.

Child care advocates said more than $100 million is needed to make up for the tuition and co-pays that the centers aren’t collecting, and pass a law protecting the centers from coronavirus-related lawsuits.