Health Compass Newsletter

By Nicole Williams, Chief Operating Officer/Assistant CEO Since the COVID-19 pandemic, like many other health care organizations, Columbia Memorial Hospital has faced challenges in finding the right individuals to join our skilled team. Staffing shortages remain a top concern for health care leadership, even as the field continues to grow. At CMH, we have seen over a decade of growth in service volume. With the increased number of patients, it is crucial to have the appropriate number of caregivers to safely meet the needs of our community.

• In recent years, we have developed several innovative programs to address staffing concerns, implementing effective strategies to ensure that we meet the needs of our patients. These programs include:
• Donating to support the cost of a nursing instructor's salary at Clatsop Community College each year, which allows more nursing students to enroll annually.
• Offering annual scholarships for registered nurse (RN), certified nursing assistant (CNA) and medical assistant (MA) students at Clatsop Community College.
• Providing a Nurse Residency Program for newly graduated nurses in their first year of work. This program offers additional on-the-job training before they begin working independently.
• Training caregivers on-site to become pharmacy technicians, who then take their certifying exams after completing their training.
• Running the in-house Medical Assistant Internship Program, which offers paid, on-the-job training for medical assistants, who then take their certifying exams.

Learn more about our creative growth tactics as you read through the following pages of this edition of the Health Compass.

Categories: From our COO