Walz requests federal help for hospitals, long-term care facilities

Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday requested staffing support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for Minnesota’s long-term care facilities and hospitals.

Walz’s office said the governor, in a letter to FEMA, outlined the need to extend current federal support and for an additional 10 medical professionals to help the state combat rising cases of COVID-19.

"Minnesota’s case counts are on the rise, which means the need for staffing support will continue to increase," Walz wrote in the letter. "Securing this additional staffing support, in addition to extending the current staffing support on the ground in Minnesota, would significantly assist our state during this tenuous time."

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The 10 additional medical staff would help facilities experiencing staff shortages, and would provide a 30-day extension of existing federal support.

Additionally, the Minnesota Department of Health has created a crisis staffing team, expanded the use of the Minnesota National Guard, provided emergency staffing pay incentives and worked to get additional staffing agencies, according to Walz’s office.

You can read Walz’s full letter to FEMA below.

Dear Administrator Gaynor,

Thank you for the phone conversation on October 20, 2020. I appreciated your outreach to my office and the opportunity to connect briefly about the COVID-19 response and federal assistance.

As I mentioned in our discussion, one of the top needs that Minnesota has right now is for staffing in long-term care facilities and hospitals. We greatly appreciate the federal nurses that have been provided to Minnesota to assist in our COVID-19 response across the state. These medical professionals have been critical as we face staffing shortages in long-term care, and as we anticipate increased medical staffing shortages in long-term care and additional settings moving forward. To help address this, my team submitted a formal request this week (see attached) to FEMA Region 5 for the current federal medical team to continue supporting our response here in Minnesota for an additional 30 days.

Right now, Minnesota’s case counts are on the rise, which means the need for staffing support will continue to increase. This is becoming particularly problematic in rural areas that require longer travel in order to provide support. Additionally, we are observing that the number of staffing positions individual facilities need seems to be increasing. As such, we also submitted an additional formal request for an additional ten federal medical professionals (two additional teams). Securing this additional staffing support, in addition to extending the current staffing support on the ground in Minnesota, would significantly assist our state during this tenuous time.

As I stated during our phone conversation, we are also always in need of additional personal protective equipment (PPE), especially N-95 masks and gloves which can be hard to secure. We are also interested in learning more about whether FEMA will be able to reimburse for vaccine supplies that are not provided by the CDC. And finally, I am hopeful that we can re-connect in a couple of weeks to touch base as the pandemic response continues. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Tim Walz
Governor