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Wood County chair highlights staffing shortages at Norwood and other care facilities
Summary
Chair Lance Plyml described staffing shortages at long-term and mental-health facilities including Norwood, citing an 8.3% workforce decline in relevant units and saying the county is working with Midstate Technical College and licensing changes to rebuild pipelines.
Wood County Board Chair Lance Plyml told WFHR that Norwood and similar 24/7 care facilities are experiencing persistent staffing challenges that mirror statewide trends.
"When you're dealing with RNs, mental health professionals... we've actually lost 8.3% of that workforce statewide now or in the state of Wisconsin," Plyml said, describing pressure on long-term care, nursing homes and mental-health facilities. He said competition from higher-paying private-sector employers and lingering effects of the COVID-19 period have made recruitment difficult.
Plyml said the county is partnering with Midstate Technical College on training pipelines and noted some statewide efforts to ease licensing barriers for entry-level positions. He emphasized that many positions require people who "really have to love what they do" because of the job stresses and that Medicaid-dependent facilities face limits on rates they can charge.
Why it matters: Staffing shortages in long-term care and behavioral-health facilities affect service capacity and the quality of care for residents. Plyml said the county is exploring workforce development strategies but warned that market-driven wage differences and funding constraints make the problem difficult to solve.
The interview did not include specific vacancy counts for individual facilities in Wood County or a detailed county plan with timelines and funding commitments; Plyml described broad strategies rather than announcing new county policy or open positions.
