Public Health Reserve Corps Available for Temporary Staffing
SCHA has been coordinating with DHEC to inventory and potentially deploy members of the Public Health Reserve Corps (PHRC) to assist hospitals with temporary staffing needs to support the COVID response. The PHRC is a volunteer group of health professionals coordinated by DHEC to help serve the state’s public health needs. The volunteers consist of registered nurses, advanced practice providers, EMT/paramedics, respiratory therapists, etc.
As part of the requirements for the program, all volunteers must maintain an active professional license, have completed a criminal background check, and have completed specific education, i.e. OSHA training, etc. The volunteers and their deployment to hospitals are outlined in the Acute Care Hospital Emergency Surge standard operating procedures.
If your hospital could benefit from the temporary resource of this group of volunteers, please contact your DHEC regional coordination center and/or the DHEC Regional PHRC volunteer Coordinator. All their contact information is provided below.
Midlands Region
Regional Coordination Center 803.576.2752
Scott Phillips, PHRC Coordinator
803.730.0701
Upstate Region
Regional Coordination Center 864.372.3160
Joanne Hobbick, PHRC Coordinator
864.202.1405
Lowcountry Region
Regional Coordination Center 843.953.0062
Stefanie Roy, PHRC Coordinator
843.513.4350
Pee Dee Region
Regional Coordination Center 803.983.9097
Jenny Latour, PHRC Coordinator
843.331.7575
Before you contact the coordination center, consider the following:
- What types of health professionals are needed, how many, and in what roles
- What expedited onboarding you can offer
- What types of benefits you can offer the volunteers, i.e. free parking, free meals, travel reimbursement, etc.
- Dates and times of need
In developing your plans and coordinating with the DHEC regional coordination center, please keep in mind that these individuals are volunteers so they should be used to supplement your needs. Not all will be immediately available for deployment. Also, most volunteers are only willing to commit to work schedules on an average of 8 to 24 hours per week.
If you have any questions about this process, in addition to the contacts provided above, you can also reach out to Morgan Bowne or Lara Hewitt.
Related Pages
- Latest COVID-19 Updates
- Bed Surge Planning
- COVID-19 Vaccination Information for Hospitals
- BART Reminders & Definitions
- Personal Protective Equipment
- Recruiting Available Staffing
- Public Health Reserve Corps Available for Temporary Staffing
- Keeping Your Health Insurance During COVID-19
- Protect Your Workforce and Work Environment from COVID-19
- The New Normal of Hospital Visitation
- Giving Back to Healthcare Workers
- Staffing Plans for Possible Winter 2020-2021 Surges
- Updated Guidance on COVID-19 Data Reporting
- Hospital Vaccine Information & Scheduling