CONWAY, Ark. — Staffing continues to be one of the biggest challenges Arkansas hospitals are facing right now.
One central Arkansas Hospital has a program set up for these difficult times and it truly demonstrates why teamwork makes the dream work.
It's called "The Helping Hands Program."
It's a program that actually was started at the very beginning of the pandemic at Conway Regional Hospital, and it's now back in action.
As staffing shortages and high volumes of patients continue, team members, like Allie Haught, are stepping up to lend a helping hand.
"Teamwork is everything. These are the people that you see day in and day out," she said.
Monday through Friday you can find Licensed Practicing Nurse (LPN), Allie Haught, at the Conway Regional Mayflower Medical Clinic.
"I room patients, I do callbacks, I set up any referrals or imaging that a patient might have," she said.
For the last couple of weeks though, Haught's been working 12-hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday, pitching in at the hospital's COVID drive-thru testing sites.
"During this pandemic, we've all struggled so much, but the best thing is knowing that you have other co-workers that have your back and really pick up that slack when you need it," she said.
Haught is one of 200 Conway Regional staff members who voluntarily signed up to take part in the hospital's "Helping Hands Program."
CEO Matt Troup said they launched the program for the second time in mid-January, as the omicron surge began to take over.
"Over time, as we became more and more busy, it became a way to reallocate staff from areas maybe where they weren't as critical, to areas where our need was very critical," he said.
It can be anything from non-clinical staff members assisting on the COVID floors by answering phones and stocking trays, to clinical members who help out by the bedside.
"The way our team has responded, has been a time in my career professionally, that I found very fulfilling," Troup said.
It's these people, like Registered Nurse (RN) Melissa Berry, that make Troup a proud leader.
She's been extending her work days to help those on the frontlines.
It's an exhaustion that Berry said she knows personally.
"I didn't forget how tired you get and how worn out, and how it's hard when you don't have the staff and you're working extra shifts," she said.
Berry is now returning the favor to people who once lent her a hand.
"It made a world of difference and now I get to turn around and do the same thing for my co-workers that are tired and worn out and need a break," she said.
According to Troup, the employees putting in this extra work do get compensated for their time, along with other incentives.
He said the hospital will re-evaluate if they need to continue the program at the end of February .