Like many health systems across the country, Stormont Vail is experiencing “a staffing crisis,” according to Matt Lara, the system’s public relations specialist. That staffing crisis led Stormont recently to submit a request for resources to Shawnee County Emergency Management. The department forwarded the appeal to the Kansas National Guard, and after receiving the request Thursday, the State Emergency Operations Center has been working to fulfill it. According to Lara, Stormont is seeking more than 150 additional personnel — 50 registered nurses, 25 licensed practical nurses, 40 patient care technicians, five medical assistants, 20 respiratory therapists, three medical laboratory scientists and technicians, five phlebotomists, three pharmacy technicians and three pharmacists.
Source: Local News | Topeka Capital-Journal

Shawnee County has mask requirements, gathering limits, restrictions to bars and restaurants’ operating hours and a suspension of organized sports, excluding high school athletics. But what county department enforces theses restrictions? The recently approved emergency health order warns of a $2,500 civil penalty for anyone intentionally violating health orders. The department responsible for enforcing restrictions depends on the nature of the violation. If an individual person violates a health order it follows a different track than if a business violates a health order, but county officials said education is always the first step in the process.
Source: Local News | Topeka Capital-Journal