Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the medical profession has had to face new challenges on a variety of fronts, but none seemingly more critical than getting staff prepared to meet the new needs of patients.

Pella Regional CEO Boe Kroese says waves of unforeseen issues have come to the surface and challenged how doctors and nurses served their communities following the arrival of the new virus.

Most recently, Kroese says the challenge at Pella Regional Health Center has been maintaining staff morale and retaining professionals as a record-breaking number of patients are coming through their clinics and departments — which has been driven by COVID-19 but also impacted by a wide range of respiratory illnesses, which he also mentions is an issue nationwide.

Kroese says many staff members in the medical profession are feeling high levels of stress after dealing with a far above normal patient volume.

He encourages everyone to get vaccinated for COVID-19 and influenza to try and keep hospitalizations low everywhere, and to practice good distancing, handwashing, and mask-wearing habits when in large public groups. Hear more about the latest at Pella Regional Health Center on today’s In Depth with Dr. Bob Leonard.