A recent report highlights the growing challenge of unrecognized costs and workforce shortages threatening rural maternity care in Kansas, potentially leading to more service closures. Unrecognized costs refer to expenses rural and critical access hospitals face beyond what is recorded in their official cost reports, which are always a year behind. Karen Weis, PhD, RNC-OB, FAAN, dean of KU School of Nursing Salina and lead author of the report, said, “Some of those costs that aren’t realized are when they don’t have the necessary workforce, be it nurses, anesthesia, lab, respiratory therapy, sonography. Then they must hire costly temporary workers, often called travelers.”
Source: KCLY Radio
