Healthcare Staffing Shortages: 4 Ways CME Can Help

One of the hangovers from the Covid-19 pandemic has certainly been labor shortages in all industries. Bloomberg reported on Jan. 18^th that 2.6M people have left the workforce since Covid hit the US. Every healthcare facility has been affected by this issue and CME is here to help.

Facilities Management

Healthcare Facilities Management (HFM) is one department affected by the staff shortages. HFM is responsible for many functions within a hospital including operations. When a healthcare facility orders new equipment, HFM receives the product, does any assembly, and then delivers the equipment to its final destination and finishes any installation needed.

CME has long been known to help healthcare facilities on new construction projects with their direct-to-site delivery services. CME also performs that same service for equipment replacement projects. Whether it is one power exam table or 40 wall-mounted diagnostic sets, CME can store, assemble, and install the equipment where it needs to go. The HFM team can focus on their normal day-to-day activities and CME can streamline the equipment procurement process.

Information Technology

Information Technology (IT) has also been hard hit by the labor shortages. Because IT is so important now, helping automate certain functions to make hospitals more efficient, they have been trying to pass more manual processes off to other departments or third-party organizations. When a hospital purchases new IT arms, workstations-on-wheels (WOWs), or computers, the IT department needs to perform cable management and computer integration. IT also can be responsible for the maintenance on the arms and WOWs.

CME has helped many healthcare facilities with their computer integration and cable management services when changing or expanding their EMR platform. CME can also perform these services on replacement arms, WOWs, and computers. Our CME Service Solutions team has preventive maintenance contracts for IT arms and carts in several healthcare systems across the country.

Biomedical Engineering

This department of the hospital had labor shortages before Covid-19 hit and it is even worse now. Biomed is responsible for the upkeep of all equipment within the four walls of the hospital as well as all non-acute facilities affiliated with the hospital or IDN.

CME has a team of biomedical technicians that can augment the hospital’s team, especially when the department has a special project that needs to be completed. CME has recently helped with biomedical check-ins (electrical checks and asset-tagging) for new equipment and inventory validation projects in all parts of the country. That way, the hospital’s technicians can focus on the day-to-day activity of keeping all current equipment in working condition.

Medical Personnel

Medical practitioners are suffering from staff shortages. Doctors, nurses, therapists, and other medical personnel have left their professions in droves. The ones that stayed are under more stress than ever. A couple of the top reasons cited by medical professionals leaving their jobs are work environment and work-related injuries.

CME cannot help medical facilities hire new staff but we can help with choosing the best equipment. Our account managers are equipment specialists and will help find new and replacement equipment that can make the practitioners lives easier, safer from workplace injuries, and their processes more efficient. These better choices can certainly help make the work environment more pleasant and safe.

Whether CME is augmenting your staff, freeing up valuable time, or helping you choose the right equipment, we are there to help you with your most pressing issues. For more information about our products or services, please contact your local CME account manager, visit our website at www.cmecorp.com, or call us at 800-338-2372.

About CME: CME Corp. is a full-service healthcare equipment and turn-key logistics company providing personalized support and service. With service centers nationwide, CME offers more than two million medical products from a total of over 2,000 manufacturers. CME is a healthcare system's complete equipment solution by providing product selection, sales, warehousing, assembly, staging, direct-to-site delivery, installation, and biomedical services for all its equipment.