Statement from Mike Slubowski, President and CEO of Trinity Health

Statement from Mike Slubowski, President and CEO of Trinity Health on the need to include Public Health Preparedness in Infrastructure Package

As the President and Congress address critical infrastructure investment needs in this country, I urge our leaders to also focus on shoring up our public health infrastructure and our health delivery system infrastructure. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that when we underinvest in public health infrastructure and health delivery system infrastructure, we are not able to stop the spread of emerging health threats and keep our country operating at full strength. More than 630,000 lives have been lost to the coronavirus in the United States to date. Hospitals are the front line of the COVID-19 response, not just treating and saving tens of thousands of lives, but also filling laboratory capacity holes, serving as educators, and bridging the gaps for access to vaccines and testing where public health agencies, government and community agencies are under-equipped.

Our experience can inform emerging policy. As health systems respond to yet another surge and prepare for the next round of mass (booster) vaccination, Congress is encouraged to invest in health care workforce resilience, health care workforce recruitment, training and licensure, supply chain strength, cybersecurity protection, broadband and telehealth capacity, health equity and the Hospital Preparedness Program.

These pressing issues are further detailed in this podcast episode of the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Leadership Rounds where I join AHA Board Chair Rod Hochman, MD, for a discussion on pandemic learnings and needed policy change.

During the conversation, the dialogue turns to the tremendous and often unrecognized impact that COVID-19 is having on our health care workforce. Many nurses and other allied health professionals have left the workforce or have significantly reduced their commitment to full-time employment. While the pipeline for new nurses and other allied health professionals was already weak before the pandemic, it is now devastatingly less capable of meeting demand. There are simply not enough licensed professionals to provide care today—or in the future.

To be clear, Congressional action as detailed in this AHA letter is pivotal to rebuilding a health care workforce that meets the needs of all communities.