Nurse shortage impacts MHSC

Dealing with the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a high number of emergency room visitations has put Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County at a “crisis level” as it struggles to cope with a nursing shortage.

The hospital has seen a slowed number of COVID-19 inpatients in the last week. Deb Sutton, the public information officer at the hospital, said MHSC has had between 15 and 18 inpatients throughout November, which has included between four and eight COVID-19 patients. This is a drop from previous weeks as the hospital reported between 22 and 26 inpatients from Oct. 22-27, which included between 10 and 17 COVID-19 patients in that time frame.

“Yes, we had a rough couple of weeks,” Sutton wrote in an email to the Star.

Sutton said the emergency room has seen a large number of people recently, ranging from 45-55 visits per day between Saturday and Monday. People infected with COVID-19 are being sent home with oxygen and the emergency room has seen a number of children with Respiratory Syncytial Virus.

The shortage of nurses has made the patient load at the hospital a challenge.

“We are at the bare minimum with the number of nurses needed in the ICU and medical/surgical unit,” Sutton wrote. “Emergency room staffing also is nearing its limits.”

Sutton said the next few weeks and the upcoming holiday season will be difficult for the hospital as it works to adequately staff nursing positions. Nurses hired as full-time employees won’t finish their orientation rotations until January, causing MHSC to rely on traveling nurses to fill the gaps.

However, the timing itself is challenging for the hospital.

“Hiring travelers also is quite difficult at this time, as we are competing with healthcare operations nationwide,” Sutton wrote.

Sutton said the shortage will result in patients needing a higher level of care being evaluated for transfer to other hospitals if beds are available. That also challenges MHSC as Sutton said regional bed availability is an issue.

“We continue to have a problem transferring patients to other regional hospitals,” she wrote.