Letter to Hon. Brian P. Kemp, Governor of Georgia - Reps. David Scott, Hank Johnson Urge Kemp to Act to Mitigate COVID-19 Hospitalization Surge, Preserve Hospital Capacity Statewide

Letter

Dear Governor Kemp:
We are writing to request your attention to Georgia's recent spike in COVID-19
hospitalizations and the need to enact measures that will preserve hospital capacity. With the
COVID-19 Delta variant expanding to every corner of our state, we have seen a sharp increase in
the number of confirmed cases--particularly among children and the unvaccinated. Hospital
systems are being forced to make difficult decisions about how to care for patients when there
aren't enough resources to go around. Our state is at a critical point in its fight against the
pandemic and as elected officials, we must prioritize the health and wellbeing of our citizens
above all other considerations. As such, we strongly urge you to direct the Georgia Department
of Public Health (DPH) to place a temporary pause on elective surgeries in all Georgia hospitals
and immediately extend licensing requirement waivers for hospitals and healthcare workers who
can provide criticalservices to patients in need.
Emergency rooms in Georgia are currently experiencing excruciatingly long wait times
as hospitals fill to capacity. Local reports of skyrocketing cases, a limited number of available
beds, and staffing shortages are stretching already-limited resources to the brink of collapse.1
The state tracking system shows that nearly 92% of emergency room beds are currently
occupied. On Tuesday, August 31st
, the state reported that hospitals had 5,656 COVID patients,
about 50 patients below the January peak of 5,709.
2 While modeling continues to predict a surge
of serious COVID-19 cases that will inevitably need extended hospital care, hospital systems
will be unable to meet the needs of patients dealing with the disease.
Hospitals, physicians, and nurses are presently being called on to treat patients with nonurgent procedures or other surgeries that can otherwise be postponed to a later date. We urge you
to direct the DPH to issue a statewide temporary pause of inpatient elective surgeries for all
Acute Care, Critical Care, and Children's hospitals in the state. By pausing elective surgeries,
hospitals will be able to provide additional beds, resources, and critical staff to areas requiring a
higher level of care. Additionally, many of these procedures can be delayed for up to four weeks
or longer without substantially changing a patient's outcome.
At the same time, we are concerned about dozens of Georgia hospitals reporting severe
ER crowding and various forms of diversion practices due to capacity problems. This surge in
hospitalizations is exacerbating a shortage of health care workers in the state--especially critical
care nurses trained to care for those affected with the disease.In a state that already has one of
the nation's lowest ratios of nurses to population, the shortage of nurses continues to jump month
after month. As of last week, 11,000 nursing positions across the state sat vacant--with more
than 1,700 of those in intensive care units.3 While we recognize and commend your efforts to
hire additional contract healthcare staff, deploy Georgia National Guard troops to overwhelmed
hospitals, and allow for the Georgia Board of Nursing to issue temporary permits to get nurses in
the field more quickly, the shortage of available staff persists.
In tandem with previously enacted measures, we urge you to extend licensing
requirement waivers for hospitals and healthcare workers beyond the September 19, 2021
deadline.
4 Extending licensing waivers can continue to facilitate the expedited authorization of
credentials for retired or inactive healthcare professionals, defer continuing education
requirements for certain professions, and suspend statutes around new healthcare providers who
are seeking licenses. More importantly, it can replenish the worst-hit Georgia hospitals that may
be struggling to retain staff and care for sick patients.
To that end, we urge you to take the necessary steps to ensure the availability of adequate
hospital capacity to provide the best possible care for COVID-9 patients. Placing a temporary
pause on elective procedures and extending licensing requirement waivers for hospitals and
healthcare workers would demonstrate Georgia's commitment to our healthcare community and
your continued dedication to eradicating the pandemic. As evident by your recent and swift
action in relaxing regulations for shipping compressed oxygen amid supply shortages, we ask
that your office take the same urgency to address these critical issues.
We stand ready to assist you as you respond to this unprecedented crisis, and respectfully
request that you take our concerns into consideration. Our communities are counting on us.

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