Up Close
and Personal
The surgical department recently added a third nurse
anesthetist to the staff. Russ Shannon, CRNA; and Tim Burns, CRNA; welcome
Mark Kamm, CRNA to their team. Shannon is the department head and said the
team is very fortunate to have hired an anesthetist like Kamm. “The
anesthetist market is very competitive and it can be hard for a small rural
hospital to get attract professionals away from large facilities. Mark comes
to us with a great deal of experience. He is used to working independently,
so he really hit the ground running,” Shannon said.
Kamm most recently had a private practice in Waukon, IA
before coming to the Richland Hospital. Before that, he worked in LaCrosse,
WI for 12 years. He is a graduate of UW-LaCrosse.
While looking for a change in his job location, Kamm
said he and Burns’ past relationship really brought him here. “In last
year’s Christmas letter to Tim, it said that I was looking at changing
jobs,” Kamm said. “Tim called me and said, we are looking for someone and
the ball just rolled from there.”
“Mark fits real well here. He is coming to us from a
rural area, so he understands us and the procedures that we typically do in
a rural area,” Shannon said.
According to Kamm, the procedures here are interesting
and the patients themselves make the job very rewarding. “Though we don’t do
the high profile, stressful surgical procedure here, we do have patients who
have their own set of challenges,” Kamm said. “The unique challenges and the
independence we have makes this job very rewarding. In addition, I enjoy
working with Russ and Tim. We can talk about new drugs or new ways of using
old drugs. It is a great environment.”
A direct benefit to the community is the decreased wait
for procedures. “With three people it is easier to accommodate the
surgeons,” Shannon said. “We can do more than one procedure at a time which
improves the patient flow.”
Improved patient flow means that the patients can get
on the schedule quicker than in the past. It also helps the surgeons get to
their patients in the clinic faster. And, now the Richland Hospital can
better utilize the new Operating Room. “Now with the third anesthetist, the
potential is there to do three procedures at once if needed,” Shannon said.
The additional staff will also allow the hospital to
add services for their patients. Dr. Christine Richards is a family practice
physician who delivers babies in the Birth Center at the Richland Hospital.
Starting later this year, OB patients will have the option of having
epidurals for pain management. “We have always focused on having family
centered, natural births by providing a lot of one on one personal care
during births at the Richland Hospital,” Dr. Richards said. “In certain
situations, epidurals can be beneficial in this process. So, we are very
excited about being able to add this service.”
With the additional anesthetist staff, epidurals that
last throughout the night are possible, because there will be adequate
coverage during the day for surgical procedures.
Mark Kamm, CRNA and his wife recently bought a house in
the Richland Center area and are excited to become part of the community.
They have two children. One is graduating from college, the other is in
college. Mark likes the small town way of life. He enjoys hunting and
fishing.
