The University of Kansas Hospital serves about 53,000 patients in its emergency room each year, and Mark Puno is one of the people who helps each person through the system.
Puno is a supervising nurse at KU Hospital. More than a third of ER patients are admitted.
“I love people; it’s why I went into nursing,” Puno said. “It’s different every day.”
Emergency medicine has changed a lot over the years, said Dr. Dennis Allin, director of the KU Hospital ER. Allen has been at the hospital 28 years.
“When I started here we had 11 beds,” Allin said. “If you count the psychiatry beds in the trauma room, we’re at 50.”
Puno is also a longtime KU employee, 19 years. When he is not working a 12-hour shift, he works for an air ambulance service as a flight nurse. He also works first aid at the Kansas Speedway, Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium.
A busy career as a health professional is something Puno would not change.
“We help people and see the results right there — it’s very, at least for me, very satisfying and gratifying,” Puno said.