Governor requests $200 million for increased hospital space, staffing

Gov. Asa Hutchinson speaks Friday to the media following an address at the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce’s First Friday Breakfast at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith.
(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Max Bryan)
Gov. Asa Hutchinson speaks Friday to the media following an address at the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce’s First Friday Breakfast at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Max Bryan)

FORT SMITH -- Gov. Asa Hutchinson is requesting $200 million for more beds for covid-19 patients and additional nurses to staff them.

Hutchinson made his announcement at the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Breakfast at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, where he also said that an estimated 15% of hospital patients in the state have the illness.

"The hospital capacity is stretched to the limit, and it's not a good situation in Arkansas when someone calls an ambulance, they go to the emergency room, and they have to wait for four or five hours or longer because there's no bed there," Hutchinson said. "That's what's happening, and whenever an ambulance is waiting for four or five hours, they can't respond to another emergency. So this is a serious threat to our health system."

Hutchinson announced that he had requested the money through the steering committee of the Arkansas Legislature. He expects the Legislature to approve the money in two to three weeks.

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Ahead of the approval, Arkansas officials have reached out to the other 49 states to recruit nurses, he said.

"There are some states where the vaccination rate's high, their cases are low. Hopefully, we'll be able to attract those, and we'll be able to pay a high premium for that," Hutchinson said.

The push for money emphasizes how the state has "got to get control on the virus," Hutchinson said. The state Friday morning had more than 21,000 active covid-19 cases -- a more than 13-fold increase from June 7, he said.

Hutchinson said lagging vaccination rates and the prevalence of the more transmissible delta variant of the virus are the two reasons for the spike. Arkansas is about 37.2% fully vaccinated against covid-19, according to data compiled by the Mayo Clinic from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the COVID Tracking Project and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Hutchinson said that he doesn't want to infringe on people's personal liberties and choices regarding vaccinations, but the vaccines are a solution for covid-19 concerns in the workplace and schools for those eligible.

Hutchinson's address came just hours before a Pulaski County judge temporarily blocked a ban on mask mandates that was imposed through Act 1002 of this year's legislative session. The Legislature convened this week to reconsider the law but voted down two bills that would have allowed school boards to require people wear of masks in certain situations.

On Friday, Hutchinson touted efforts to increase covid-19 vaccinations through his Community Covid Conversations initiative. Since the beginning of July, Hutchinson and Department of Health officials have traveled to more than 12 Arkansas cities and held public forums largely focused on addressing questions and concerns about the vaccines.

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Hutchinson estimated that vaccinations in the state have increased 40% since the community conversations began. He also said about 11,000 vaccinations were given throughout the state Thursday, and the state saw 30,000 vaccinations given in one day previously.

Hutchinson recommended that anyone with concerns about the vaccines speak to a health care provider. He also said he hopes more Arkansans get vaccinated before the virus mutates further.

"That is another incentive to getting a handle on it," Hutchinson said about the possibility of mutation. "I am encouraged that our vaccination rates are going up in Arkansas."

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