Governor Tim Walz is getting ready to announce that Minnesota National Guard troops will be deployed to nursing homes around the state in the coming weeks.
Walz is also proposing providing $50 million in federal funding to facilities to help with hiring and retention of staff.
“Our long-term care facilities are facing an all-hands-on-deck moment, and that’s why we are taking unprecedented action to support skilled nursing workers, residents, and patients,” said Governor Walz. “Financial support will help our skilled nursing facilities hire and retain talented staff to care for patients, and the Minnesota National Guard is preparing to fill any staffing gaps. I am deeply thankful to the skilled nursing personnel who work so hard to care for so many Minnesotans every day. I pledge to do whatever it takes to help Minnesota’s long-term care community get through this challenging time.”
WCCO Political Analyst Blois Olson says up to " a couple of hundred" guard members will be involved in the deployment.
"These are not traditional nursing associates within the guard," says Olson.
"These are new guard members that will be trained specifically for work within nursing homes. This is coming as nursing homes have been complaining about staffing levels that are too low to maintain standards that the state has set."
It's not yet known how long the deployment will last with funding and capacity issues determine the length of deployment.
Minnesota nursing homes have been struggling to hire workers during the pandemic. Olson says the National Guard deployment is also related to the federal vaccine mandate for nursing home workers. Many have chosen not to get vaccinated which keeps them from working in nursing homes.
“They will be trained in certain duties,” Olson explains. “It could be probably food service. It could probably be cleaning, other jobs that aren't necessarily nursing related that the nursing homes need to maintain the capacity that they have. And it's important the nursing homes have the capacity because a lot of people who are being discharged from hospitals, can't be discharged until there's capacity at the nursing home.”
The Minnesota National Guard has been assisting the state with COVID testing since the start of the pandemic in addition to call-ups during the George Floyd riots and Brooklyn Center protests following the shooting of Daunte Wright.
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