Memorial Hospital facing nursing and space shortage

Memorial Hospital has been going through a nursing shortage recently, but the new COVID surge has put a new layer of strain on their team.

The system of care for the state is transferring patients to the hospital from other facilities. These transfers must be accepted regardless of the limited space and staff.

Some patients are sent to the emergency department and may have to wait hours before help. Some of the nurses have even contracted the virus which causes more staffing complications.

The hospital is looking to begin incentivizing their staff to work more hours. VP of Patient Care and Quality/ Patient Satisfaction Kathy Ladner said, “It’s taken everybody. I mean, you’ve got people at the front lines that are working extra shifts. They’re coming in working their clinic shifts during the day coming in the afternoons, working additional hours to help us with our monoclonal antibody infusion clinic. You’ve got administrators who are working on strategies every day.”

Hospital officials are asking citizens to get tested at one of their clinics and not the ER.