How Added National Guard Support Will Help Newport Hospital

NEWPORT, RI — Rhode Island will expand its National Guard support at hospitals statewide, including at Newport Hospital, Gov. Dan McKee said in a news conference Tuesday.

The addition of Rhode Island National Guard troops is an attempt to help hospitals dealing with staff shortages amid the coronavirus pandemic.

McKee said 30 National Guard troops will get sent to Rhode Island Hospitals, including Eleanor Slater Hospital, Rhode Island Hospital, Newport Hospital and several others. Two of the 30 new National Guard troops will go to Newport Hospital.

"I am truly grateful to General Callahan and the National Guard for their consistent support in this effort and throughout the pandemic," McKee said. "This is the result of weeks of close coordination between my office, the Rhode Island National Guard, the Rhode Island Department of Health, the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency and local hospital leadership and is an important part of our strategy to support hospital staffing."

McKee said one of the National Guard troops will provide patient transportation within Newport Hospital, while the other will serve as a COVID-19 screener.

McKee also signed an executive order, allowing nursing school graduates to practice at hospitals sooner, as long as they are supervised.

The governor 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.