Healthcare officials aim to address challenges facing today’s South Ga. medical workers

TIFTON, Ga. (WALB) - Health professionals spoke with current and future nurses about the healthcare workforce development during a UGA summit on Wednesday.

One of the topics discussed was that medical centers across the nation are experiencing high turnover rates due to burnout and other daily challenges healthcare professionals face.

Right now, a shortage is impacting both nurses and patients.

Stevan Van Hook, Wiregrass Technical dean of health and sciences, told WALB because of that, increased burnout happens to new nurses entering the medical field after graduating.

“What we have found are a lot of the expert nurses in the field are retiring, and so you have new nurses coming in that sometimes are put into position that maybe they don’t feel comfortable in.” Van Hook said.

Experts say nearly 75% of surveyed healthcare executives reported feeling burned out during the last six months of 2022, compared to 60% of respondents who reported burnout symptoms in 2018.

Health professionals at medical centers in our region say their emergency rooms are experiencing excessive wait times. This is also a national issue.

CEO of Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital Scott Steiner spoke on the issue in Albany. He says it’s an ongoing challenge that they are working through. He says Phoebe sees over 60 ambulances daily.

“People talk about wait times in emergency rooms, I’d love to tell you that’s going to go away tomorrow. If you could tell me how many people are going to be in the emergency room today, and if I can separate them by 15 minutes each, but the world doesn’t work that way,” Steiner.

Patients told WALB that they’ve also experienced long wait times at Tift Regional Medical Center. Here is the following statement addressing that issue.

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