HSHS Comments on State's Surge Staffing Program

When the Illinois Department of Public Health Monday announced contracts for medical services that allowed the lowering of tier mitigations in regions across the state, it was mentioned that the surge staffing made it possible to address staffing needs that individual hospitals couldn't.

We contacted HSHS St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital in Effingham to see how the program might impact them. We received a response from Catie Sheehan, Vice President of Advocacy and Communications for Hospital Sisters Health System, which owns St. Anthony's. 

Sheehan replied, "We are evaluating staffing levels at our HSHS Illinois hospitals to decide if we will need to utilize the state’s surge staffing support plan. We are grateful our state leaders have been thoughtful in putting this plan together. As part of a system with nine hospitals in Illinois, we have been able to utilize our own colleagues and some traveler clinicians for the system to cover our areas of greatest need. Our team has been working tirelessly to serve our patients during this unprecedented time; and we are so grateful for their service. As more and more people gain access to the vaccine, we are looking forward to being on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic, but we are thankful that the state’s program is there if we need it."