Veterans Nursing Facility, Others ‘Brainstorming’ For Employees

The veterans skilled nursing facility that was awarded to Buffalo last year has been moved up by a year, and that has healthcare providers in the area scrambling to come up with ideas to attract and keep some needed employees, which they already have a shortage of.

Buffalo City Councilman Travis Lawrence is on the committee overseeing the planning and construction of the facility, and he said the shortage of employees such as certified nursing assistants (CNAs) is a concern for healthcare providers in general, but those locally are working together to try to make a bad situation better.

Lawrence said Johnson County facilities need to better utilize nursing students from the community college for their clinical rotations that can also alleviate some of the burden of work that needs to be done in these facilities to help with shortages of employees.

Some other “ideas outside the box” have been discussed for recruiting and keeping employees, according to Lawrence.

Lawrence said he was nervous when the timeline for the facility was moved up by a year, but he feels the committee is far enough ahead in planning that when it does open in two and a half years, most of the issues will be worked out with all of the players involved.

Lawrence also touched on the nursing facility itself and the plans for renovations at the Veterans Home of Wyoming.

We’ll have that in an upcoming story.