Because of a scheduling snafu caused by a shortage of surgeons, Southwest Memorial Hospital has initiated a "trauma divert" from Wednesday, May 17, until Monday, May 22, at 8 a.m.

"Trauma patients requiring emergency surgery will be diverted to other nearby hospitals until then," said Southwest’s CEO Bob Peterson. "All regularly-scheduled surgery will continue to happen, and the ER will stay open 24-hours, as always."

Since February 1, Southwest has been relying on two full-time surgeons to cover all on-call duty for emergency- trauma surgery, Peterson said, but the lack of physicians finally caught up with them.

"It is unfortunate and unexpected," he said. "We have kept this from happening for a long time but it came down to a point where a physician just was not available for this on-call shift and we did not have time to correct the problem."

Peterson said that he is "very optimistic" about hiring a new surgeon soon. A candidate interested in the job is expected to inform the hospital board of his decision by June 8. Once a third surgeon is hired, the medical staff leadership and the Southwest Health System board will meet to decide if a fourth physician is warranted, Peterson said.

Historically, Southwest has enjoyed a staff of three surgeons, and last year brought a fourth one aboard. Since then, however, Dr. Gerald Howe retired and a newly hired surgeon left shortly after accepting the position, leaving only two surgeons, Dr. James Hanosh and Dr. Bill Rainer, on staff.