PeaceHealth is facing staffing shortages after phasing out travel nurses, adding more to the shortage.

This has caused some patients to be boarded in hallways of the Emergency Department, because there aren’t enough nurses to care for them on the floors.

Travel nurses raced in when Covid-19 was hitting local hospitals the hardest. But they're starting to be phased out.

Registered Nurse Chris Rompala says some of the travel nurses working for PeaceHealth saw their rates cut down significantly.

"For those nurses, it occurred mid-contract,” Rompala explains. “After it occurred, some of them were given less than 24 hours to make a decision to either continue with their employment, or to leave and go somewhere else."

Rompala says the travel nurses who have chosen to leave have already done so, while others have taken the wage cut - leaving RiverBend even more short of staff than before.

So now the big question: the World Athletics Championships (Oregon22) are coming up in just a few weeks. Are nurses ready for anyone who falls sick or gets injured?

Tens of thousands of people will be visiting the area.

"Adding that many more people to our community is going to be very taxing on our healthcare system,” Rompala says. “I know that right now, the plan is to add about 20 travelers. But when we're fully staffed, we have about 1,400 nurses. So, adding 20 is just a drop in the bucket."

In response, PeaceHealth sent us the following statement:

We have reduced our reliance on high-cost temporary workers and strengthened our local recruitment efforts. We are working to minimize any impacts to patients, including rescheduling non-critical surgeries, while continuing to meet the health needs of our communities.

Rompala says staff have been burned out for the past few years and are now dealing with these additional shortages.

They've been trying to negotiate with PeaceHealth since last August for more benefits for those who have stayed.