Rural Hospitals Brace for Staffing Shortage as Medical Personnel Report for Military Duty

As physicians, nurses and other medical personnel in the reserves are "called to military duty" in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, hospitals are preparing for staff shortages that could "hurt patients [and] the bottom line" the Columbus Dispatch reports. While urban hospitals don't expect an "overwhelming shortage" of staff, rural hospitals could be "hit harder." According to LaMar Wyse, president of Holzer Health Systems in southeastern Ohio, "The absence of even one doctor could devastate a rural hospital." Wyse said that most rural hospitals have approximately 10 staff physicians, whereas larger city hospitals maintain medical staffs of around 50. Wyse added, "If you have only 10 doctors and you lose one for even a week or two, that means some patients go without routine care; the number of admissions, procedures and surgeries are down; and that all equates to a loss of revenue." The call-up will compound an existing staff shortage that has already become "critical" for the hospital industry, according to Chuck Tadiello, president-elect of the Ohio Society of Hospital Human Resources Administrators. In comparison, "times were different" during the Persian Gulf War, when hospitals were "fully staffed" and were "laying off nurses and support personnel" (Hinchey, Columbus Dispatch, 9/26).