January 2022 Webinar

PDF: Interim Recommendations to Mitigate Health Care Worker Staffing Shortage During the COVID-19 Pandemic (WA DOH, 01.02.2022)

This resource provides Washington State Department of Health recommendations for use during COVID-19 surge, when health care facilities experience health care personnel shortages. Strategies to mitigate staffing shortages and to shorten exclusion from work for health care personnel are included. WA DOH recommendations align with 12.23.2021 CDC guidelines.

Strategies to Mitigate Healthcare Personnel Staffing Shortages (CDC, 1.21.2022)

Due to concerns about increased trans­mis­si­bility of the SARS-CoV‑2 Omicron variant, this guidance enhances protec­tion for health­care personnel (HCP), patients, and visitors, and addresses concerns about poten­tial impacts on the health­care system given a surge of SARS-CoV‑2 infec­tions. The webpage includes work restric­tions and return to work criteria for health care providers with COVID-19 infec­tion and exposure. Recom­men­da­tions address conven­tional, contin­gency, and crisis capacity staffing and incor­po­rate vacci­na­tion status and type of exposure. **The infographic included in this document (updated by the CDC on 1.21.2022) changes vaccination status terminology to “up to date/not up to date” AND adds that healthcare personnel in contingency status may return to work if asymptomatic or with mild to moderate illness.

Hospital Surge: Mitigation Strategies for Health Care Facilities (WA DOH, no date)

This Washington State Department of Health webpage includes nine steps to mitigate health care capacity issues at the local level. Information on Crisis Standards of Care is provided along with a variety of resources to support COVID-19 response.

PDF: Washington State Crisis Standards of Care Triage Team Operational Guidebook (WA DOH, 10.2021)

This guidebook contains tools and information for use in the event of a large-scale disaster where there is an overwhelming number of individuals requiring medical treatment and resources. This offers guidance for medical prioritization when there are limited resources available and includes detailed recommendations on how to implement the four procedural steps needed to support the Triage Teams’ decision-making process.