Idaho Governor Sends in National Guard Over Staffing Shortages

National Guard members assisting in hospitals with COVID-19-related patients in Northeast Ohio have been shifted to some throughout Southwest Ohio, effective Jan. 26. Photo courtesy Ohio National Guard

Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Monday activated his state’s National Guard due to staffing shortages at several state agencies.

The 75 or so Guard members will be used to assist Primary Health and the Idaho Department of Correction, which are both experiencing staffing shortages due to COVID-19 absences, his office said in a statement. Little said he secured about 500 additional personnel to assist state hospitals dealing with COVID-19 cases.

“The strain on health care, schools, business, and government from the spread of COVID-19 is a reminder that we are not out of the pandemic, and we need to be vigilant about keeping ourselves and our loved ones healthy,” Little, a Republican, said in a statement.

Currently, Idaho does not employ a vaccine mandate for any of its agencies and joined a coalition of GOP-led states that filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees.

The Supreme Court blocked enforcement of that rule, but the high court left in place a rule that allows the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to withdraw funds to facilities if their employees are not vaccinated for COVID-19. Unlike the now-defunct OSHA rule, health care facilities and workers cannot opt out by submitting to weekly testing.

“I am proud of our men and women of the Idaho National Guard who have stepped up time and again to help our state and communities get through an unprecedented, challenging time,“ Little also said Monday. ”The strain on healthcare, schools, business, and government from the spread of COVID-19 is a reminder that we are not out of the pandemic, and we need to be vigilant about keeping ourselves and our loved ones healthy.”

At Primary Health Group, Idaho’s largest independent family medicine, and urgent care provider, the National Guard staffers will help clinics provide COVID-19 tests to more patients, CEO Dr. David Peterman told The Associated Press.

At least 48 states and 3 territories have used National Guard members to fill gaps in staffing, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. The troops have driven school buses, staffed hospital kitchens, helped to care for nursing home residents, triaged emergency room patients, and held COVID-19 vaccine clinics.

In Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown has sent about 1,200 National Guard members to help at more than 50 hospitals that she claims are under pressure due to an Omicron variant-fueled surge in hospitalizations. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee recently deployed 100 members of the National Guard to hospitals across the state to set up testing sites and to assist in non-medical tasks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.