| Troutman Sanders LLP is pleased to announce that the Report of the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association Human Resources Work Group ("Report") is now available. The Report is the culmination of a multi-year effort led by the Virginia Department of Health (“VDH”), the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (“VHHA”), Troutman Sanders LLP (“Troutman Sanders”) and a group of dedicated Human Resources professionals from hospitals around the Commonwealth (“HR Work Group”) to address issues related to absenteeism during a large scale emergency, disaster or public health emergency like a pandemic. Everyone knows that a hospital cannot operate without its most valuable asset - its staff. Yet during an emergency or disaster, hospitals will be expected to treat an influx of patients with a diminished workforce. In fact, it is predicted that during a pandemic, healthcare providers can expect to see absenteeism rates in excess of 30-40%. With such high rates of absenteeism predicted, it is essential that hospitals and healthcare facilities begin preparing now to minimize, mitigate and manage absenteeism caused by emergencies, disasters and public health emergencies, including a pandemic. VDH and VHHA formed the HR Work Group to study these challenges and to develop practical tools to help hospitals plan for disasters. VHHA engaged Troutman Sanders to facilitate the HR Work Group and to serve as a Subject Matter Expert on HR issues during disasters. The principal output of the HR Work Group is 14 Consensus Policy Statements covering a wide range of issues that will arise during a disaster, especially a public health emergency. The Work Group offers the Consensus Policy Statements as a starting point that should help hospitals begin to think about and develop policies and procedures that best meet the needs of their individual facilities and that are consistent with guidance from governmental entities. These Consensus Policy Statements, along with other useful preparedness tools, are contained in the Report, which is now available for Virginia hospitals. To access the Report, VHHA members can log on to https://www.vhha-mci.org/ and click on Program Documents, then click on ACTIVE PROJECTS and then select HR Work Group. |