Calls are mounting for the Biden administration to set up a national tracking system of covid-19 deaths among front-line health care workers to honor the thousands of nurses, doctors and support staffers who have died and ensure that future generations are not forced to make the same ultimate 鈥 and, in many cases, needless 鈥 sacrifice.
Health policy experts and union leaders are pressing the White House to move quickly to fill the gaping hole left by the Trump administration through its failure to create an accurate count of covid deaths among front-line workers. The absence of reliable federal data exacerbated critical problems such as shortages of personal protective equipment that left many workers exposed, with fatal results.
In the absence of federal action, 鈥淟ost on the Frontline,鈥 a between The Guardian and KHN, has compiled the most comprehensive account of health care worker deaths in the nation. It has recorded 3,607 lost lives in the first year of the pandemic, with nurses, health care support staffers and doctors, as well as workers under 60 and people of color, affected in tragically high numbers.
The Guardian/KHN investigation, which involved more than 100 reporters, is drawing to a close this week. Pressure is now growing for the federal government to step into the breach.
Harvey Fineberg, a leading health policy expert who approved a recent that cited the 鈥淔rontline鈥 project and recommended the formation of a national tracking system run by the federal government, backed the calls for change. He said his ideal solution would be a nationwide record.
鈥淭here would be a combination of a selective look backward to gain more accurate tabulations of the past burden, and a system of data-gathering looking forward to ensure more complete counts in [the] future,鈥 he said.
Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, a president of National Nurses United, the largest body of registered nurses in the U.S., said it was unconscionable how many health care workers have died of covid-19. The found that almost a third of those who died were nurses 鈥 the largest single occupation 鈥 followed by support staff members (20%) and physicians (17%).
Triunfo-Cortez said the death toll was an unacceptable tragedy aggravated by the lack of federal data, which made identifying problem areas more difficult. 鈥淲e as nurses do not deserve this 鈥 we signed up to take care of patients, we did not sign up to die,鈥 she said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation鈥檚 top expert on infectious diseases, also sees a role for federal agencies in tracking mortality among front-line health care workers. In an interview with The Guardian, he expressed a desire for a definitive picture of the human toll.
鈥淲e certainly want to find an accurate count of the people who died,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something that I think would fall under the auspices of the federal government, likely Health and Human Services.鈥
The lack of federal intelligence on deaths among front-line health care workers was one of the running failures of the Trump administration鈥檚 to the crisis. The main health protection agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, does curate some information but has itself acknowledged that its own record of 鈥 more than 2,000 fewer than the joint Guardian/KHN tally 鈥 is an undercount based on limitations in its data collection.
Overall, health care workers were revealed to be singularly at risk from the pandemic. Some studies have shown they were more than three times as likely to contract covid as was the general population.
To date, there is no sign of the Biden administration taking active steps to set up a comprehensive data system. An HHS spokesperson said the department has no plans to launch a comprehensive count. However, Triunfo-Cortez said there is a new willingness on the part of the White House and key federal agencies to listen and engage.
鈥淲e have been working with the Biden administration and they have been receptive to the changes we are proposing,鈥 Triunfo-Cortez said. 鈥淲e are hopeful that they will start to mandate the reporting of deaths, because if we don鈥檛 have that data how can we know how effective we are being in stopping the pandemic?鈥
The responsiveness of the new administration is likely to be heightened by the fact that Biden鈥檚 chief of staff, Ron Klain, has a track record in fighting infectious disease outbreaks. In 2014, President Barack Obama appointed him
In an last August, Klain drew on the findings of 鈥淟ost on the Frontline鈥 to decry the ultimate price paid by health care workers: 鈥淎lthough America has applauded health workers, banged pots in their honor and offered grateful video tributes, we have consistently failed them where it mattered most.鈥
David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health information technology under Obama, said a national tracking system is an important step in healing the wounds of the pandemic. 鈥淪o many health care workers feel as though their devotion and sacrifice weren鈥檛 valued,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e must combat the widespread fatigue and disappointment.鈥
KHN senior correspondent Christina Jewett contributed to this report.
