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SAGINAW, Mich. (WJRT) -Almost every industry is facing the impact from COVID-19 and the labor shortage. Hospitals in Mid-Michigan are returning to pre-pandemic volumes in their emergency rooms leading to patients needing to wait up to triple the standard time.
“We’re so used to short wait times and being able to see people right away when they come in, so depending when exactly you come in and what exactly the concern is the wait may be longer than maybe it was a few months ago,” Medical Director of Covenant Care Emergency Center said.
Longer wait times and less space to place patients is a typical sight for Dr. Matt Deibel with the cause less about COVID-19 cases but the limit in medical staff.
“You have less people to care for patients, therefore, you have less ability to see sometimes that same number, even more patients than before,” Deibel said.
Deibel adds it’s something hospitals have endured since the start of the pandemic. Nurses continue to be hard to find, but they’re not the only key players missing.
“It’s not just the nursing shortage, it’s nursing assistants, it’s secretaries, it’s physical therapists, respiratory therapists,” Deibel said. “All the roles in healthcare, we literally just have less people in those and working in those roles than we did before.”
Even with little staff local hospitals stress that patients who walk into the ER who need immediate attention will be seen, but for lower priority patients they should be prepared for a wait.
“I think the strategy has always been the same,” Deibel. “We want to see people as quickly and safely as possible, I don’t think that’s changed, I don’t anticipate that to change.”
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October 15, 2021 at 10:26AM
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