West Virginia

Audit finds contract nursing in WV state facilities costs $284M, hiring process typically 688 days • West Virginia Watch

Published

1 week ago

November 13, 2024

Audit finds contract nursing in WV state facilities costs 4M, hiring process typically 688 days • West Virginia Watch

State-run hospitals, struggling to fill full-time nursing positions, are heavily reliant on contract positions to fill gaps. It cost the state $284 million since 2015 since contract positions pay more than the state’s own full-time nursing jobs.

The Department of Health Facilities’ lengthy hiring process and questionable budgeting practices combined with a national nurse shortage have led to a reliance on contract labor, according to an audit presented to lawmakers on Tuesday. Meanwhile, contract labor’s price tag has risen.

“From fiscal year 2015 to 2023, the total annual expenditure for contract clinical staff increased 955%,” said Mike Jones, audit manager with the Post Audit Division.

House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay

The audit, conducted by the Legislature’s Post Audit Division, reviewed the Department of Health Facilities hiring process prior to it becoming its own agency this year. It found that, on average, it took 688 days to post jobs and hire full-time nurses.

“That’s among the most ridiculous things I’ve heard in a long time,” House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, said in response. “Can anyone respond to that? Anyone?”

Aaron Snodgrass, health facilities finance officer, said he couldn’t provide clarity but noted that the agency was posting jobs much more quickly at this time.

With the likely continued rising cost of contract nursing, the legislative auditor recommended that lawmakers “consider if the continued operation of health facilities by the state is in the best long-term interests of the state and address the issues as it sees fit. “

DHF leaders have said they’re already considering selling four of the state-run hospitals to private providers largely due to operation costs. Snodgrass told lawmakers that the audit was fair and he was not surprised by the findings.

“We are working with a broker to find investors who want to invest in these facilities. I can’t really provide any additional information on that because it’s not my project,” he said.

In DHF’s official response to the audit, it said the department contracted with Lument Securities earlier this year to look for outside buyers. West Virginia Watch on Sept. 23 filed a Freedom of Information Act request for a copy of DHF’s contract with Lument; an attorney with DHF recently delayed possibly sharing the contract until Dec. 20.

DHF operates four long-term care facilities: Hopemont Hospital in Terra Alta; Jackie Withrow Hospital in Beckley; John Manchin Health Care Center in Fairmont; and Lakin Hospital in West Columbia. The department also operates two psychiatric facilities — William R. Sharpe, Jr. Hospital in Weston and Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital in Huntington — along with Welch Community Hospital.

Contract nurses involved in crimes, patient death at hospitals

Lawmakers requested the audit due to concerns about “ambiguous information around expenditures,” cost concerns with state-run hospitals and more.

There was not a line item dedicated to contract nursing, according to the audit.

There are 846 allocated positions in the seven hospitals for full-time clinical nurses. Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, noted that the audit failed to say how many positions were being filled by contract nurses.

The COVID-19 pandemic worsened the state’s reliance on contract nursing, and from 2019 to 2020, the cost jumped from $20 million to more than $40 million.

“These staffing issues are not new or unique to hospitals in West Virginia. They existed before COVID, which only worsened the issue … No single policy has addressed the issue,” Jones said.

The millions of dollars spent on contract nursing were paid out to 33 vendors over the last nine years; 28 of those were out-of-state vendors. Sharpe Hospital, where multiple contract employees have been charged with crimes, spent $30 million on contract staffing last year.

The state spent $3.8 million on contract nursing in Hopemont Hospital in 2023. Three contract employees were fired there this year who were involved in a gruesome death of an elderly patient in a boiling whirlpool.

The audit noted that West Virginia was not immune to issues sparked by the national nursing shortage. Lawmakers and educators have attempted to bolster the state’s nursing programs, including the creation of a West Virginia Nursing Academy that starts for kids in ninth grade. The Legislature provided $20 million in surplus funding for continued education initiatives started in the Governor’s Nursing Workforce Program in 2024.

“Are any of the programs that we have done in the past few years to bolster the nursing programs working?” Young asked.

Snodgrass said that it will take years to graduate more nurses in the state.

“We are seeing positive results within the department,” he said. “When we come back in budget meetings in the spring, if trends continue that we’re seeing, we’ll have good positive results to report for contract nursing.”

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

Source link

Click to comment

West Virginia

Predicting the winners of the 2024 West Virginia high school football playoffs first round

Published

8 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Press Room

Predicting the winners of the 2024 West Virginia high school football playoffs first round

The West Virginia high school playoffs begin tonight with a full slate of games on the table.

7:00 p.m. Friday

PREDICTION: Hurricane

1:30 p.m. Saturday

PREDICTION: Nitro

4:00 p.m. Saturday

PREDICTION: Phillip Barbour

2024 WVSSAC Class AA high school football bracket

First-round matchups

(1) Tug Valley vs. (16) Tolsia

Score Predictions for West Virginia’s Senior Day Game vs. UCF

Published

17 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Press Room

Score Predictions for West Virginia’s Senior Day Game vs. UCF

Picking up a win this weekend means the West Virginia Mountaineers are going bowling. It’s been an extremely disappointing season to this point, but WVU can put an end to their woes at home by taking down a UCF team that has lost six of its last seven.

Here is how we see this Saturday’s game going between WVU and UCF.

The challenge doesn’t get any easier this week for new WVU defensive coordinator Jeff Koonz, who will have to gameplan for the nation’s third-leading rusher, RJ Harvey. UCF is and always will be a run-first football team under Gus Malzahn, but they have found an answer at quarterback over the last couple of games with freshman Dylan Rizk, giving them more of a balanced approach.

For the most part this season, West Virginia has had success defending the run. They rank fifth in the Big 12 in run defense and 50th nationally in yards allowed per carry (4.0). Although Rizk opens up UCF’s offense, I still believe Malzahn will want to remain confident in his superstar running back and try to lean on WVU’s front. With less-than-ideal weather conditions expected to be in play, it should keep UCF from wanting to spin it a bunch, which is great news for a weak Mountaineer secondary.

Whether it was the season opener versus Penn State, the Backyard Brawl against Pitt, the Coal Rush game versus Iowa State, or another primetime game against Kansas State, WVU has not handled distractions all that well this season. Senior Day can certainly provide a lot of distractions with all of the emotions that go into it, but I believe Garrett Greene, Wyatt Milum, and Co. will walk out of Milan Puskar Stadium as winners.

I’m going with the Mountaineers in a high-scoring affair.

Prediction record: 6-4.

UCF may have found its footing with quarterback Dylan Rizk – the Knights’ fourth starting QB this season. Rizk has made the last two starts for a team looking to remain bowl eligible. The freshman threw for 294 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start and nearly pulled off the upset at Arizona State in game two. He’s been efficient in his passes, completing 74.6% of his passes.

The Knights have leaned on an effective rushing attack, ranking third nationally, and lead all Power Four programs, averaging 262.8 rushing yards per game.

Leading the UCF ground game is RJ Harvey. The senior has rushed for 1,328, ranking third nationally, with 19 touchdowns and was named a Doak Walker Award semifinalist for the second consecutive season.

Statistically, the West Virginia defense has been formidable against the run and is second in the Big 12 in rushing yards allowed per game at 126.8. However, last week against Baylor, the Mountaineers nearly allowed the Bears to reach their season average of 5.7 yards per carry, gaining 5.4 yards per rush. UCF is second in the country in runs of 10 yards or more with 86.

West Virginia was unable to keep pace with a surging Baylor offense last week at home and there is no indication they will be able slow the Knights down Saturday. The Mountaineers had an opportunity for a game turning interception against Baylor but what has occurred often with this unit, it was dropped. The defense will have to make plays for this team to win and they did it two weeks ago to steal a win in Cincinnati.

I’m reluctant to pick West Virginia for a multitude of reasons but what has been preached by the coaching staff since the arrival of Neal Brown, the lack of consistency in all three phases of the game, sums it up.

I’m going to go out on a shaky limb this week and pick the Mountaineers. It’s quarterback Garrett Greene’s last home game of his Mountaineer career and I think he will motivate and will this team to a win while the defense will dial up more pressure against a freshman quarterback and force mistakes, but it will not be easy.

West Virginia finds a way to win 27-24.

Prediction record: 6-4.

West Virginia

Who Steps Up for West Virginia at Receiver with Traylon Ray Done for the Year?

Published

1 day ago

November 21, 2024

Press Room

Who Steps Up for West Virginia at Receiver with Traylon Ray Done for the Year?

West Virginia’s passing game hasn’t struck fear into the hearts of its opponents all year long, but the Mountaineers lost one of their biggest receiving threats, Traylon Ray, last week in the loss to Baylor.

A Baylor defensive back landed on Ray’s leg on a deep ball in the second half, causing the sophomore receiver to be carted off the field. Over the weekend, Ray underwent a successful surgery and will be out for the remainder of the season.

Prior to the injury, Ray hauled in 28 receptions for 426 yards and four touchdowns on the season, giving him an average of 15.2 yards per catch. He scored three of his four touchdowns throughout his final four games played and made some big catches deep down the field. He leads all Mountaineer receivers in touchdowns, is second in receiving yards, and third in receptions.

So, how do the Mountaineers go about replacing Ray’s production for the final two games of the season?

“I think similar to when Hudson (Clement) was out. We take a team approach,” head coach Neal Brown answered. “Now, we’re going to miss him. I think that by the time Traylon’s career is done here, he’s going to be a really high-level player, and I really think the NFL is in his future. This is a minor setback. He’ll make the full recovery. It looked bad, but he’s going to make the full recovery, and he’s in good spirits. We’ll miss him.

“But we also got some guys that we can plug and play,” he continued. “Preston (Fox) will take a bigger role. Jarel Williams will play a little bit more on offense. Justin Robinson needs to play more like he did against Cincinnati, not like he did against Baylor. And I believe he will. It will be a committee approach.”

DayDay Farmer is another one who will likely see more action, although he has been splitting reps in the slot with Rodney Gallagher III for the last couple of weeks. While Farmer, Robinson, Fox, Williams, and others may become a little more involved, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll see a significant increase in targets.

Instead, look for tight end Kole Taylor to see a healthy dose of targets in these final two games. Over the last two weeks, Taylor has combined for ten receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown. He’ll likely play a big role in the season finale at Texas Tech, but with cruddy weather in the forecast for Saturday, Ray’s absence shouldn’t impact the Mountaineers too much against UCF.

West Virginia and UCF will kick it off at 3:30 p.m. EST. The action can be streamed live on ESPNU.

News Pub

Audit finds contract nursing in WV state facilities costs $284M, hiring process typically 688 days • West Virginia Watch

Contract nurses involved in crimes, patient death at hospitals

You may like

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Leave a Reply

West Virginia

Predicting the winners of the 2024 West Virginia high school football playoffs first round

First-round matchups

(1) Martinsburg vs. (16) Parkersburg

(9) Parkersburg South vs. (8) Washington

(4) Wheeling Park vs. (13) Musselman

(5) Huntington vs. (12) University

(2) Spring Mills vs. (15) Hedgesville

(7) Morgantown vs. (10) Woodrow Wilson

(3) Jefferson vs. (14) Cabell Midland

(6) Hurricane vs. (11) George Washington

First-round matchups

(1) Princeton vs. (16) Hampshire

(8) North Marion vs. (9) Ripley

(4) Hoover vs. (13) Elkins

(5) Oak Hill vs. (12) Lewis County

(2) Fairmont Senior vs. (15) Point Pleasant

(7) Spring Valley vs. (10) East Fairmont

(3) Bridgeport vs. (14) Byrd

(6) Nitro vs. (11) Shady Spring

First-round matchups

(1) Frankfort vs. (16) Westside

(9) Bluefield vs. (8) South Harrison

(4) Williamstown vs. (13) Moorefield

(5) Wheeling Central Catholic vs. (12) Nicholas County

(2) Roane County vs. (15) Chapmanville Regional

(7) Wayne vs. (10) Scott

(3) Independence vs. (14) James Monroe

(6) Philip Barbour vs. (11) Clay County

First-round matchups

(1) Tug Valley vs. (16) Tolsia

(8) Petersburg vs. (9) River View

(4) Cameron vs. (13) Valley

(5) Doddridge County vs. (12) Wirt County

(2) Tucker County vs. (15) East Hardy

(7) Pendleton County vs. (10) Meadow Bridge

(3) Wahama vs. (14) Madonna

(6) Sherman vs. (11) Tyler

West Virginia

Score Predictions for West Virginia’s Senior Day Game vs. UCF

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI

West Virginia

Who Steps Up for West Virginia at Receiver with Traylon Ray Done for the Year?

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI

Bitcoin 'On Brink Of Breaking $100,000,' Dogecoin Up, Ethereum Down: Crypto Community Holds Its Breath As BTC Guns For Milestone

US SEC obtained record financial remedies in fiscal 2024, agency says

Avoid doing these gym exercises now! Orthopaedic doctor reveals exercises that do more harm; the answers may shock you

The Last Republican movie review (2024) | Roger Ebert

for Magsafe Car Mount【20 Strong Magnets】 Magnetic Phone Holder for Car Phone Holder Mount Truck Dash【360°】 Cell Phone Holders for Your Car Accessories for Women Men iPhone 16 Pro Max 15 14 13 12 Plus

Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña

See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph

Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through

Why Marjorie Taylor Greene was ‘kicked out’ of the Freedom Caucus according to Rep. Buck

Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide

Video: Heavy Rains and Wind Wreak Havoc on the West Coast

'Conveyor belt of radicals': GOP slammed over Senate absences that helped Biden score more judges in lame duck

Fact-check: What do we know about Russia’s nuclear arsenal?

Can Matt Gaetz return to Congress? He says he won’t.

Where Trump Gained and Harris Lost in New York

Trending

Leave a Reply
Cancel reply