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Like Most Other Employment Sectors, Many Local Healthcare Providers Continue To Struggle To Find Workers

June 06, 2024 Steve Schwaller

(Spencer)– Like most other employment sectors, the healthcare industry is also facing challenges in filling open positions. Brenda Tiefenthaler, CEO at Spencer Hospital, they’re making progress but still have a long way to go get staffing back to pre-covid levels…

“During the peak of covid we had 71 open staff positions available, or open for hire. And at that point we had a lot of contracted staff within the hospital to serve the needs of the patients that we had. Prior to covid our highest number of openings usually ranged somewhere between 10 to 20, so 71 was pretty high for us, an unprecedented number. Currently we’re down to the mid 30’s so we’re happy with where we’ve gotten but we’re not there yet.”

Tiefenthaler says the majority of the openings they still have are the most challenging to fill…

“About 85 percent of those are clinical or licensure positions where it requires a license to take those positions.”

Tiefenthaler presented her update as part of Monday’s Spencer City Council meeting.

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