Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Oct. 28 announced a series of actions to address a surge in respiratory syncytial virus, including a directive for hospitals to utilize $25 million in state funding to boost the hiring and recruitment of pediatric intensive care unit staff.
The $25 million comes from an $80 million fund that had already been set aside by the state's health department.
"Hospitals will receive $25 million and have been directed in award letters issued today to utilize these resources to increase the hiring and recruitment of staff," Mr. Hogan's office said in an Oct. 28 news release. "For facilities with pediatric ICU and/or inpatient beds, awards should prioritize staffing those units appropriately before considering other non-pediatric units."
The Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems is also increasing pediatric ICU bed capacity at its critical care coordination center.
Like many other states, Maryland is seeing an early and large surge in RSV hospitalizations. Since the start of October, there have been 500 RSV-related hospitalizations in Maryland, ABC affiliate WJLA reports. This time last year, there were less than 400 RSV hospitalizations in the state. Children two and younger makeup 57 percent of current RSV-related hospitalizations, Mr. Hogan's office said.
RSV first began to rise in August. Now, many hospitals across the country are reporting a case increase of over 300 percent compared to what they saw in September.