Petersburg hospital board weighs buying housing to address staffing gaps

Petersburg Medical Center rents about 21 apartments around town to house traveling staff, and it is still short an MRI technologist, rehab therapists, nurses and certified nursing assistants. Administrator Phil Hofstetter asked the hospital board at its July 30 meeting to treat housing as a workforce constraint and to weigh buying, building or partnering on housing. The board took no financial action.

That reliance is costly. The board was told year-end spending is projected at about $31.1 million against an approved budget of $30.1 million, an overrun attributed primarily to increased contract labor, though revenues are projected about $1.5 million above budget.

Hofstetter laid out three paths: pursuing housing grants, partnering with the Petersburg Borough to develop housing on the upper lot, and purchasing existing homes in town. He told the board that a legal review found PMC may acquire property or housing in support of its workforce initiative.

Hofstetter said local recruitment works well, but few people from outside Petersburg move to town, and housing remains an issue for those who do. The nursing department reported four traveling certified nursing assistants and seven traveling registered nurses on staff. The average traveler stay is 13 weeks, the board was told, and stays are otherwise unpredictable.

The apartment count keeps moving. Human resources told the board PMC was at 20 apartments in May and would add one July 1, and that it rented 21 by late June. The board also heard that a new unit was recently filled and another is expected to be filled next month. Minutes from the board's April 30 meeting record that PMC "continues to utilize 22 local rentals in Petersburg to house traveling staff across departments."

Staff said they were still looking at a property that had been for sale, though no property has been selected.