Staff Issues at Columbus Hospital

A staff shortage at the Columbus Community Hospital in Columbus, Wisconsin has created a hefty amount of scheduling issues.  This shortage has forced the small hospital cut back on the number of patients it can schedule for non-emergency concerns.

According to cch-inc.com, the hospital employs over 300 employees in total.  In years past, this number was sufficient to handle Columbus’ five thousand people and the surrounding areas of Fall River, Randolph, and Cambria.  In recent years however, demand for the hospital’s services have started to exceed the number it can provide.

In 2015, construction was finished on a brand new surgical unit which allows the hospital to take on a higher capacity of patients.  With the new unit completed, a higher strain has been put on the other departments in the hospital.

Two of the hardest hit departments have been scheduling and the rehabilitation department, with scheduling feeling the brunt of the staff shortage.

As of now, the scheduling department contains five employees, managed by Janis Bachofen.  This department is tasked with creating appointments for all out-patient departments in the entire building.  A large portion of the job is meeting with the patients face-to-face or on the phone and trying to find a time that works for their next appointment.

With only two schedulers on the clock each day, busy days can be overwhelming for the staff.  “Monday mornings are usually the worst for us.  Everybody is trying to schedule an x-ray or rehab appointment for something they did over the weekend.  It gets a little hectic when there’s only two of us here to handle all of the calls,” said Amanda Bock, one of the employees in the scheduling office.

The rehabilitation department is having similar difficulties keeping up with the demand for services.   Angi Genco, head of the rehab department, is currently under immense stress to try and see every patient possible.

“With such a limited staff, it is nearly impossible to get to every patient into our department in a timely fashion,” said Genco.

Appointments often have to be scheduled a month or more in advance, due to there being no available openings any sooner.  This means patients will have to wait a long time to get the help they need.

This fact also makes the scheduling department’s job that much more difficult, forcing them to try and find the rare open slots for patients to take.

While the patients understand why they have to wait so long, most agree that it is not the most convenient situation.

“When I hurt my knee and went to urgent care a few months ago, I was told I’d have to wait a month just to see the rehab doctor.  I told them I needed to see somebody now, but of course no one was available,” said Austin DeYoung, a current rehab patient.

As of now, there are no plans to hire more staff in either department, but if the situation stays similar to what it is now, something will most likely have to be done.