LOCAL
Physicians urge MultiCare to avoid staff cuts amid flu season
The following is from the Union of American Physicians and Dentists/AFSCME:
MultiCare Urgent Care Physicians Dr. Ed Wakatake, Dr. Jocelyn Devita, Physician Assistants Scott Voelpel, and Ward Thompson warn that cuts now would not be in the interests of our Tacoma and Pierce County communities. Last year’s flu season was a crisis at MultiCare and other health providers around the state.
In January 2017, former MultiCare Physician Manager Dr. Stroud issued a memorandum to all Urgent Care clinics urging them to modify closing hours and to request volunteers for extended hours to accommodate the needs of the community as a result of the flu. Emergency room physicians at MultiCare were pleading with administrators to extend Urgent Care Clinics to help alleviate long lines. MultiCare Emergency Departments were in a “state of Full Capacity, CODE 30.”
Predictions for this year are concerning given the devastating flu season just now ending in Australia. MultiCare physicians say that cutting staff now, when they should be preparing for the worse, does not serve their communities.