Patients seeking treatment at the University Medical Center this month may not be getting quite the care they expect.
A shortage of nurses has forced Medical Center officials to "selectively divert" patients in some departments, delaying some patients of non-emergency care.
With fewer nurses, fewer beds are staffed and available for patient services.
There is now a 10 percent vacancy in the Medical Center's nursing staff, according to Marlene Bond, chief clinical officer and chief nursing officer. This percentage reflects a nationwide trend of hospitals that are struggling to retain full nursing staffs.
"There is a ... nationwide shortage of nurses," said Robert Cantrell, vice president and provost for the Health System.
Chief of Staff Thomas Massaro said the selective divert policy is the hospital's method of "managing the front door in an effective way."
No one is completely turned away from the hospital, but instead their services may be delayed for a few days.
"We tend to delay admission until we can accommodate the patients," Massaro said.
The types of patients being delayed admission are those scheduled to undergo elective surgery, not emergency.
Elective surgeries are those for conditions that do not pose an immediate threat to a patient's health.
Despite the nursing shortage, emergencies are treated immediately at the Medical Center.
"The emergency rooms stay open and the rescue squad can still bring patients in. There has only been one or two occasions where the squad was turned away due to the shortage of nurses," Bond said.
The policy of selectively diverting some patients has only been used several times and not since the first week of November, Medical Center officials said.
"We try to avoid this policy as much as possible," Cantrell said.
The hospital is enacting several measures to recruit and retain more nurses.
The Medical Center's incentives include improving differentials for off shifts, providing a continuing education program for nurses, making equity adjustments for staff and giving time and a half for holidays, according to Bond.
Scholarship programs also are being offered in hopes of attracting more new nurses.
"We are trying to show our appreciation for the nurses," Massaro said.
Read More
New School of Data Science building opens with remarks and ceremony
By Cecilia Mould | 5 hours agoThe four-story, 61,000 square-foot building includes four classrooms and two seminar rooms, as well as a two-story central hub for hosting events.
Democratic Futures Project fellow Félix Maradiaga announces campaign to end arbitrary detention
By Caroline Hagood | 5 hours agoA public website for the campaign launched Friday, which Maradiaga says is the first step towards raising awareness.
HRL preassigns 25 percent of returning resident advisors for 2024-25 academic year
By Cecilia Mould | 9 hours agoSome SRs are upset with this change, with two SRs saying that it has somewhat reduced the relative autonomy they have had when choosing their staff in past years.
