Beth Slepian is CEO of Granite VNA.
We recently marked two years since COVID-19 turned our world upside down, and although cases of an Omicron subvariant are surging in other parts of the world, I am hopeful that New Hampshire appears to have put the worst of the pandemic in the rearview mirror.
COVID changed our lives in innumerable ways, and it exacted a devastating toll on millions of families who lost loved ones, on educators and students, on restaurants and restaurant workers, on people struggling with chronic illness and mental health challenges, on older adults and on and on. None of us escaped its touch. From the very beginning, however, the health care industry has taken the brunt of COVID’s impact.
For two years, the news and social media channels have been flooded with stories and images of hospital workers overwhelmed by the daily challenges of caring for patients with COVID-19 and comforting them as they succumb to it. Even now, hospitalization numbers continue to be reported daily, but what you don’t see on TV and what is not reported are the patients with (or recovering from) COVID-19 who are receiving care in their homes by home health care workers, such as the nurses and other clinical staff of Granite VNA and other home care and hospice agencies. Many of these patients are among the region’s most vulnerable, such as seniors and others with underlying conditions and even terminal illnesses.
Our agency serves 82 New Hampshire communities, extending from the tip of the Lakes Region to Bedford, east to Middleton and west to Washington. In the most-intense months of the pandemic, pre-vaccine, and again during the recent Omicron surge, our home care staff were caring for as many as 100 COVID-19 patients at a time throughout our service area. They have collectively driven millions of miles, donning and doffing PPE in cars, driveways and on porches, in all types of weather to care for patients in their homes.
Like hospitals and other health care facilities, home health care agencies were and continue to be stretched. Challenges have ranged from obtaining PPE early in the pandemic to staff illness and burnout, to vaccine hesitancy, to the critical shortage of workers — especially nurses and home health aides — we are now experiencing.
The home care industry has historically been challenged by staffing, primarily due to lower pay scales, benefits and advancement opportunities compared with hospitals. Although we’ve made strides to close the gap in recent years, the effects of COVID on the health care workforce have hit home health care and hospice providers especially hard. As our population continues to age, and as more people with complex care needs, such as congestive heart failure, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, seek home care, the demand for home health and hospice care services will only continue to grow. In addition, the pandemic has prompted people to think differently about their health care options and to consider home health care as an alternative to a hospital stay.
Home care and hospice care is one of the fastest-growing health care sectors in the United States. It is the future of health care. Here in New Hampshire, our population of older residents is growing rapidly. In fact, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services estimates that more than one-third of the state’s population will be over age 65 by 2030, which seems far off, but is just eight short years from now.
The jobs page on the Home Care, Hospice & Palliative Care Alliance of New Hampshire website, which aggregates job openings from all visiting nurse associations in the state, currently lists more than 300 openings. While our agency and others are constantly evaluating ways to attract and retain staff, the workforce deficits in home care are very real.
As the leader of New Hampshire’s largest home health and hospice care agency, my No. 1 concern is recruiting and retaining staff to enable us to provide our patients (and their families) with the best possible care day-in and day-out, to meet future demands for home health and hospice services and to provide critical wellness services to all members of the community. I am confident that the tide will turn in our favor, and I am confident that Granite VNA and other home care and hospice providers in our state will do whatever it takes to provide home health and hospice care to our region’s most vulnerable patients.
Caring for people in their homes, whether helping new moms learn how to care for their babies, helping seniors to remain in their homes, where they are most comfortable and happy, or guiding patients and families through the end-of-life journey, gives us the opportunity to truly make a difference in the lives of our patients. It is a tremendous honor and we invite nurses, LNAs, therapists, homemakers and others to discover its rewards.