CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The CEO of a Charlotte mental health facility said they’ve had to limit the number of patients they can take in because of the nursing shortage.
Dr. Alyson Kuroski-Mazzei is the CEO at HopeWay – but at her core, she’s a doctor who just wants to care for her patients.
"It's very frustrating," Kuroski-Mazzei expressed. "Our services here at HopeWay are lifesaving, and the fact that we can’t take as many people as we would like because of the challenges is heartbreaking."
Kuroski-Mazzei said HopeWay, a nonprofit mental health facility, is facing what many hospitals are facing: they’re being outbid when it comes to hiring nurses. In her facility, Kuroski-Mazzei said private companies are driving up the cost. The going rate is so high there are accusations of price gouging.
Like so many other medical facilities across the Carolinas, HopeWay can’t hire the number of nurses they need.
"We have decided to decrease the number of patients that we take in because of the nursing challenges," Kuroski-Mazzei said.
Since HopeWay is a nonprofit, they struggle to compete with the wages offered elsewhere. Nonprofit health providers across the country have seen nurses leave for nursing agencies or other groups that offer more competitive pay. In some cases, some nurses even left the field altogether.
"People are being asked to join nursing agencies, which can pay triple to quadruple what they’re getting at other organizations," Kuroski-Mazzei explained.
The American Hospital Association (AHA) and 200 legislators have pushed for a federal investigation into price gouging within healthcare and seven states are considering emergency legislation. In their letter to Congress, legislators - including Ted Budd and Deborah K. Ross of North Carolina - claimed staffing agencies inflated what they charge to hospitals and other healthcare providers. The letter argued those groups took about 40% or more of that amount in profits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The AHA also joined with the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living in another letter to the White House's COVID-19 Response Team Coordinator. In that letter, they underscored their concern that action should be taken regarding the fees staffing agencies charge hospitals, not the wages of the nurses employed by those agencies.
Samantha Meltzer-Brody chairs the Department of Psychiatry for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and said North Carolina is considering legislation as well to figure out how hospitals will pay for nurses and all the different financial hits they've taken.
"I think people realize it’s a problem. It's a complex problem and the solution will be complex," Meltzer-Brody said.
HopeWay's CEO agreed.
"There needs to be eyes on what these nursing agencies are doing during the pandemic and price gouging hospitals," Kuroski-Mazzei said.
Both doctors contend nurses deserve to be paid well. A quick solution, they argue, would help patients suffering from the cost. They want to see a sustainable business model, including public-private partnerships for training.
That model to boost training could prove especially helpful. Research found 90% of nurses who trained at programs in North Carolina stay in the state and are retained in the profession, according to a November report by UNC-Chapel Hill.
Contact Michelle at mboudin@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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