BEDFORD, Ohio — University Hospitals is reducing bed capacity at some locations and reassigning staff to higher volume hospitals due to staffing shortages and a surge in COVID-19 cases.
In a news release, the hospital system presented the following plans to help alleviate some of those issues:
- Helping Hands, a program that recruits members of our team who serve in non-bedside patient care roles to help at the bedside where they are needed most.
- Consolidation of operating room schedules to more efficiently flex perioperative (surgical) staff into other areas based on needs.
- Incentives for caregivers who are willing to work additional hours or flexible schedules.
University Hospitals will be reassigning some of their employees at UH Bedford and UH Richmond medical centers to other higher-volume hospitals.
The two hospitals will reduce the number of inpatient beds to 14 at each location. UH also will close operating rooms at UH Bedford.
The hospital released the following statement:
"UH remains committed to serving the health care needs of our Bedford and Richmond Heights communities, where UH has a long and continuing presence. Our emergency departments, outpatient offices, diagnostic testing and imaging, non-invasive cardiology testing, and the medical-psych unit at UH Richmond are unaffected by the staffing reassignments.
"These moves are for an indefinite period of time as we sustain patient care and continue an ongoing analysis of our UH clinical operations model. Many health systems across the state and the nation have been forced by staffing shortages and the surge in COVID-19 to make similar decisions. The actions we take now reduce the likelihood we will have to defer elective procedures for our patients in the future.
"During the weeks ahead, UH will continue to assess staffing needs across the system. We appreciate the flexibility and dedication of our UH caregivers in our continued efforts to provide the quality care and service to our patients and communities for which University Hospitals is known."
University Hospitals isn't the only local hospital system making changes due to staffing shortages and the surge in COVID-19 cases.
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