FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 7, 2020
Contact: Lynn Sutfim, 517-241-2112

LANSING, MICH. To assist with staffing shortages at long-term care facilities due to COVID-19, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is offering Rapid Response Staffing Resources in 11 counties.

“As additional COVID-19 testing takes place in long-term care facilities, some facilities will experience a need for surge staffing if staff test positive,” said Robert Gordon, MDHHS director. “To meet this need and ensure the safety of long-term care residents, MDHHS has established emergency staffing for short-term, immediate support to facilities facing acute staffing crises.”

Rapid Response Staffing Resources will be available in:

• West Michigan: Kent, Ottawa, Allegan, Muskegon, Newago and Montcalm counties.
• Southeast Michigan: Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston and Washtenaw counties.

MDHHS will provide short term, 72 hours or less, of consecutive staffing assistance through 22nd Century Technologies, Inc. Facilities requiring staffing assistance will need to meet specific criteria and demonstrate they have exhausted all other options. Staffing resources available will include registered nurses, certified nursing assistants, personal care aides or resident care assistants.

Rapid Response Staffing Resources will support long-term care facilities based on facility and resident need, but will be prepared to assist with activities of daily living (bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting, eating); provide infection prevention assistance; and provide environmental cleaning assistance. Facilities will be responsible for orienting staffing agency employees to resident care plans, as applicable, and providing onsite supervision at all times.

For more information on the state’s plans to address COVID-19 in long-term care facilities, visit Michigan.gov/COVIDNursingHomePlan.

Information around this outbreak is changing rapidly. The latest information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.