Roanoke based clinic receives part of the ARPA grant given to VDH for improving services and addressing labor shortage
Roanoke, Virginia – Last week, the Virginia Department of Health confirmed that the department was awarded nearly $10 million in ARPA funds to assist and support nine organizations in the state in their efforts to accelerate the COVID-19 recovery. The grant awarded to VDH by the federal government is funded with ARPA money, and nine organizations in Virginia will get their share, including the Roanoke-based Carilion Medical Center.
During the pandemic, thousands of hospitals and other health care organizations nationwide faced serious staffing shortages, especially nurses. The problem with the employee shortage is not going to get fixed easily and will probably take years before things get back to normal for health care facilities, but the federal government wants to accelerate the recovery process and help those affected, at least in the short term.
Carilion Clinic, formerly known as Carilion Health System, is a Roanoke, Virginia-based non-profit integrated health care organization that provides care for nearly one million Virginians and West Virginians. Carilion owns and operates seven hospitals in the western part of Virginia, as well as Radford University Carilion and a joint venture medical school and research institute with Virginia Tech.
Carilion Clinic was heavily impacted by the pandemic in recent years, but the help in the form of a grant should assist its leaders in lowering the negative impact of the pandemic. The Virginia Department of Health was awarded a total of $9.9 million grant that will help expand care for senior citizens in nursing homes and long term care facilities. Carilion Clinic will get its share, a total of $800,000, and the clinic is about to use the funds to address the labor shortage problem. Since Carilion Clinic’s nursing homes are experiencing a shortage of infection prevention specialists, the grant will specifically be used to hire new employees.
“Because of these transitions in and out of healthcare facilities, trying to build teams that can consistently help maintain capacity is helpful for the long term care facilities,” Dr. Anthony Baffoe-Bonnie said.
Carilion is partnering with the Virginia Department of Health to expand medical services in nursing homes.
The grant funding is expected to fund the positions through July 2024.
