Tampa General Hospital considers limiting monoclonal antibody treatment due to distribution changes

A top Florida hospital executive on Monday chided President Joe Biden’s administration for its decision to change how monoclonal antibody treatments are being distributed nationwide, calling it “plain wrong.”

“The reality is they need to look at it from a supply and demand perspective and they need to look at it as from how different states are using it as a therapy. It’s one of many tools we have now to fight COVID-19. This change is going to hurt people in Florida,” Tampa General Hospital President and CEO John Couris told members of the House Pandemics & Public Emergencies Committee Monday.

“It’s already starting to make us, for example, think about how we are going to have to limit the hours of operation associated with our ability to provide this life saving therapy and it’s plain wrong,” Couris added. “And my hope is we can do something about it.”

Monoclonal antibody treatments have been available since 2020 but are still not yet in universal use. Gov. Ron DeSantis in August announced the opening of state supported monoclonal centers.

To ensure the treatment was available to all those who wanted it, DeSantis directed former Department of Health Secretary Scott Rivkees to issue a standing order that allowed infected residents to get the treatment without first obtaining a physician’s order.

Moreover, Rivkees order also authorized nurses and paramedics to provide the treatments.

Couris said Tampa General Hospital was the first hospital in the state to begin offering monoclonal antibody treatments, known under one of its manufacturer’s names, Regeneron. The hospital, he said, offered the treatment before it was administered to former President Donald Trump. It offers patients access to the treatment seven days a week. After scheduling an appointment, treatment can be administered within two to three hours, Couris said, adding that patients typically begin feeling better within 24 to 48 hours after receiving the treatment.

The Biden administration announced the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will, at least temporarily, set the rules for distribution of monoclonal antibodies instead of allowing states, medical facilities and doctors to order them directly. DeSantis said the move would hurt Florida.

And he’s not alone in that thinking.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who is running to unseat DeSantis next year, has also asked the Biden administration to delay the decision to change the distribution of the product, a rare moment of agreement between the two political rivals.

Couris was one of a trio of hospital executives to testify virtually before the committee, joining Gino R. Santorio, President & CEO of Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, and Tom VanOsdol, Senior Vice President of Ascension Florida.

All three hospital executives discussed the impact the pandemic has had on operating costs as COVID-19 infections drove inpatient hospitalizations.

The Pandemics Committee wasn’t the only panel discussing impacts from the pandemic on Florida hospitals. More and more hospitals are turning to staffing agencies to help fill nursing positions as shortages pop up throughout the state.

Advent Health Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Neil Finkler told members of the House Health and Human Services Committee nearly four fifths of nursing job postings are being filled with emergency staff.

He called it one of the “existential threats” to delivering health care.

“This is not sustainable,” Finkler said. “It limits consistency, it limits our entry capability, it limits team building and it limits a lot of the things that we have done to improve the quality of care that we provide.”

Florida Hospital Association President and CEO Mary Mayhew said her association is in the early stages of vetting a proposal that could cap the amount of money nurses at staffing agencies get paid. Mayhew downplayed the notion that the idea was anti-free market saying the state has been in the midst of a medical emergency.