RI Expanding National Guard Support For Hospitals Battling COVID

PROVIDENCE, RI — Rhode Island will expand National Guard support at hospitals statewide dealing with staff shortages amid the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Dan McKee said in a news conference Tuesday.

McKee said around 30 National Guard troops will get sent to Rhode Island Hospitals, including Eleanor Slater Hospital, Rhode Island Hospital, Kent Hospital and several others.

There are currently 75 National Guard members supporting 11 hospitals in the state, said Chris Callahan, the adjutant general for the Rhode Island National Guard. He said guard members are helping with patient monitoring, screening and other emergency room duties to "allow for higher-end health care providers to do their work and not have to manage some of the administrative tasks."

Additionally, McKee said he will request extensions for medical teams sent by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Rhode Island and Kent Hospitals. McKee also signed an executive order, allowing nursing school graduates to practice at hospitals sooner, as long as they are supervised.

McKee said he's optimistic these changes will help, but reminded people that getting vaccinated and boosted is what will help hospitals dealing with shortages the most.

"Nothing is going to provide more relief in the hospitals than keeping people out of the hospitals," McKee said.

Omicron wave declining in Rhode Island

McKee said coronavirus cases statewide have gone down, 75 percent, since the omicron spike hit in early January.

"It's very clear we've seen a dramatic decrease this month, and week over week, our numbers are moving in the right direction," McKee said. "We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel from this winter surge."

Interim Health Director James McDonald said he expects hospitalizations and deaths to drop sharply in the next four to six weeks. He said the state's supply of oral antiviral drugs remains strong, and the state is fortunate to have these treatments, when much of the world still doesn't have the vaccine supply it needs.

"I'm optimistic about where science has brought us and where it's going to bring us," McDonald said.

But McDonald cautioned state resident to not develop a "false sense of security," because there is still the potential for new variants to emerge.