Being in the healthcare industry has been stressful, especially for the providers at CHI’s walk-in clinic, which opened last April. What started as a respiratory clinic during the height of the pandemic is now CHI’s walk-in clinic, which tends to everyday illnesses. Nurse practitioner Anna Wolf says she has seen it all.
“Earaches, maybe some colds that turn into sinus infections, some stomach stuff that seems to make its way around,” said Wolf.
The pandemic led to challenges over the past year, with staff seeing more than 100 patients a day during recent COVID spikes in the fall and winter. While it was stressful, an “all hands on deck” approach helped keep the doors open.
“It was overwhelming at times, it was a little stressful at times, but they worked so hard together and truly made it what it is today,” said Shelli Hayes, clinic manager. Now with COVID-19 numbers down, staff are back to handling normal workloads. It was a long road, but officials are relieved to see a semblance of normalcy.
“Everyone has jumped in and offered to rotate in there, so it’s nice having your entire team do that because we’ve all experienced that kind of craziness,” said Wolf. The clinic was recently awarded by its parent company for its innovation. Clinic Manager Shelli Hayes says it’s all thanks to a team effort to provide care during a very stressful year.
Hayes adds that the clinic will be adding two full-time nurse practitioners this summer. The walk-in clinic is open weekdays from 7 - 11:30 am and from 1 - 5:30 pm.
KFYR-TV
Michael Anthony Reporting
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