Home Care Shortage Keeps Patients in Strained Hospitals

Hospitals stretched by an influx of patients due largely to the Omicron surge are also facing the challenge of moving those patients out.

Staffing shortages at home health agencies may be keeping patients in the hospital longer than they need to be there, doctors and other sources said.

"Everybody is reporting that they are turning away patients because they don't have adequate staff," Bill Dombi, president of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice, told MedPage Today.

Dombi didn't have data to share, but he said the problem is pervasive across the home care industry, and is forcing physicians to get "creative" with discharge plans.

"That puts an added level of responsibility on [hospital] staff, who are already double shifting," Dombi added.

"It's one of those terrible circumstances where there are worker shortages in hospitals, so they may be limiting admissions. Nursing homes have limited admissions for the same reasons as home care. So it's kind of like musical chairs," he said.

"If you're in a hospital, and you're not able to get into a post-hospital care setting, then you're probably going to stay in the hospital," he explained. "If you're in a nursing home and you can't get home care, then you'll stay there. If you're discharged home, then you're scrambling to put together supports for yourself, like family members or volunteers from church groups." ...

Sharon McLennon-Wier, PhD, executive director of the Center for Independence of the Disabled in New York (CIDNY), said her group has received "a lot of complaints from consumers" during this current surge, "especially those with severe disability who are 100% dependent on home health aides." ...