About 50 out-of-state healthcare workers attended an onboarding session today, as they arrived to help supplement local healthcare teams in Hawai‘i. Gov. Ige visited them at the St. Francis Healthcare System in Liliha. This now makes more than 170 additional medical employees that are here in Hawai‘i to help during the COVID-19 pandemic. They’ll be here through Dec. 26, 2020. The healthcare workers were contracted by DOH through Ohio-based “ProLink Services,” to bolster staffing at both Hawai‘i hospitals and long-term care facilities.

The effort to staff post-acute care facilities is being coordinated by the Hawai’i State Department of Health (DOH) and the Healthcare Association of Hawai’i (HAH). The job roles were strategically selected to provide maximum value to the state. Individual staff may not remain at the same facility for the duration of their employment. Employees can be quickly mobilized into a “strike team” to assist specific nursing homes or hospitals, should a COVID-19 cluster emerge. Gov. David Ige said, “I thank DOH and our many partners for making today a reality. Our local healthcare employees have been working diligently, around the clock, making many personal sacrifices to ensure that the facilities they work in and our communities are safe and the spread COVID-19 is prevented. These traveling medical professionals will support and bolster Hawaiʻi’s healthcare workforce, should we experience a surge in cases.”

DOH Director Dr. Elizabeth Char said, “All arriving personnel have met rigorous health and safety standards in the fight against COVID-19. They are licensed, fully trained and ready to work in Hawaiʻi’s long-term care facilities.” ProLink’s supplemental personnel working in Hawaiʻi’s acute care hospitals have already undergone orientation and are on the job across the state.To view more:

Link to photos here (please note photo credit on individual photos).