We hate the phrase as much as you do: “due to unusually high call volume…”

Like you, it makes our heart sink a little to hear those words--much less to have to say them.

Of course we are happy to get the calls. It is the reason we’re here, to connect patients to the health care they need.

But we want to tell you that we are hearing you loud and clear: our wait times are too long. And we want to tell you that we don’t feel it’s OK either, and we apologize. We know the frustration of a long wait time.

The reason our wait times are too long is that we are simply not able to staff appropriately at this time. Like many health care providers across the country, we are currently struggling to fill open positions. It has been a long, hard pandemic for everyone in health care, as well as for patients and communities we serve

So what are we doing about it?

We have added a callback feature to our call system. We have added a wait time indicator so that you know how long the wait time will be.

And, we are also working harder than ever to fill call center positions. We are increasing our outreach and marketing in hiring. We are extending our call center hours as much as we can.

We are also providing other ways to make appointments, including online via our website sunriver.org, and via our patient portal

Again, our apologies for the longer wait times. Please know that we are working to remedy this issue.

Finally, if you or anyone you know is interested in working in important this area of health care, please visit Work With Us to see open positions at Sun River Health.