Staffing shortages cripple Maine’s nursing homes

Staffing shortages in nursing homes and hospitals have been a persistent issue in the United States, hitting Maine especially hard. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the issue has escalated from an uncomfortable problem to an ongoing crisis.

The reasons for this are numerous: COVID-19 restrictions, growing costs of operation, increased workloads and stress for nurses, stringent standards of employment, and a lack of qualified and available professionals. The healthcare field was ravaged by the first wave of the pandemic, leaving damage that would be difficult to recuperate from even under normal conditions.

Maine has suffered more from this setback than other states. Because many Mainers live in rural, remote towns and the state has a high number of geriatric patients, these issues were only exacerbated by the Delta variant.

In a report generated from a survey conducted by The Maine Health Care Association, occupational stress and burnout were highlighted as the main reasons for long-term care staff resignations in Maine, followed closely by vaccine mandates and other reasons.

In addition, the report showed that an overwhelming 99% of long-term care providers have asked their staff to work overtime or take extra shifts, while 94% of these providers are experiencing some kind of staff shortage and 49.5% of providers that the staff shortages are a crisis.

Furthermore, analysis of vaccination data provided by the State of Maine indicates that while vaccination rates among nursing home and long-term care staff have increased, the number of staff itself has experienced a steady downturn through 2020 and 2021. Around 29% of long-term care providers had an average of one to five open positions, 25% had six to ten open spots, and 20% had more than twenty-one open positions.

The Colby Echo spoke with John Orestis, President and CEO of North Country Associates, which owns and runs a number of nursing homes and long-term care facilities across Maine.

“Now, we can’t find staff, so we really have to limit the number of people we treat in our facilities,” Orestis said. “In addition, we have a great deal of trouble hiring sufficiently-trained employees as we have to instead focus on the ones we have so that they can adequately treat our patients. Also, these problems aren’t just found in nursing homes, they extend to hospitals and other healthcare institutions as well.”

While stress and burnout are some of the major causes of Maine’s increasingly understaffed long-term care and healthcare institutions, stringent COVID-19 restrictions also play a major role. Some workers have resigned or have been removed from their positions due to an inability or unwillingness to comply with vaccine mandates. 

Because of these staffing shortages, healthcare institutions are often unable to adequately treat their patients or accept new patients, which can prove especially dangerous in the midst of the pandemic.

Last week, the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston made an official statement placing a temporary halt on cardiac arrest, pediatric, and traumatic injury admissions due to a lack of first responders, emergency medical care professionals, and hospital-based healthcare workers. This cessation of services means that patients admitted to the hospital will be screened, treated, and then promptly transferred to different locations for additional treatment.

Despite these complications, aggressive measures are being taken to address this problem and its impact on Maine’s ability to provide quality long-term care and health services to its residents. Governor Janet Mills’s cabinet has allocated $123 million of the $4.5 billion stimulus included in the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan to Maine’s nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Healthcare, emergency, and mental health service providers will also receive funding in order to facilitate training and raise rates of employment.

As well, many long-term care facilities and hospitals around Maine are independently exploring increased wages and expanded budgets to incentivize staff to continue working. 

While these solutions may not immediately address the deep-seated issues caused by healthcare staff shortages, they nonetheless provide the time and support needed to slowly but surely edge towards recovery.

~ Dimitri Lin `25