Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced $60 million for hospital staffing support to bring 750 additional nurses to Arizona for eight weeks, according to a Sept. 2 AZ Central report.
Medical facilities will be eligible for added staffing if they meet certain conditions, such as administering monoclonal antibody treatment to patients and offering COVID-19 vaccines for patients during discharge.
"Arizona's health care professionals and all frontline workers are heroes, without a doubt," Mr. Ducey said in a statement. "We are working to make sure they have the resources they need. This funding opportunity will decrease stress on existing hospital staff, increase hiring opportunities and decrease the risk of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Arizona."
Christina Corieri, Mr. Ducey's senior policy adviser, said that "putting reasonable conditions such as deploying proven peer-reviewed ways of reducing hospitalization makes perfect sense."
The state has reserved money for hospital staffing support twice before, the added $60 million brings the total to $145 million.
Ms. Corieri said the $60 million for hospital staffing is coming from the state's pool of federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars. The Arizona Department of Health Services will receive the money and use it to contract for nurses and assign them to hospitals statewide based on need.