Free lodging and meals are among the incentives South Florida hospitals are using to recruit healthcare workers to treat patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, reports the Sun Sentinel.
Florida is one of the states hardest hit by COVID-19. On July 26, NPR reported that Florida has the second-highest COVID-19 case count in the U.S. behind California.
To address the needs of patients and workers who are burned out or need to quarantine at home, hospitals are recruiting extra staff.
As of July 23, more than 50 hospitals had made requests with the Florida Office of Emergency Management for travel nurses, ABC Action News reports. Hospitals asked for 2,412 nurses, and 1,082 nurses had been deployed as of July 23.
But some South Florida hospitals are recruiting themselves as they compete against each other and the state for workers, according to the Sun Sentinel. Recruiting efforts cited by the newspaper include spending as much as 50 percent more than average hourly wages to get temporary workers with intensive care or emergency experience, as well as housing and meals.
According to the Sun Sentinel, some organizations have their own staffing firms, while others use national recruiters to bring in workers.
Read the full report here.
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