Hospital administrators face tough decisions as a surge of Covid patients seek treatment at their overburdened facilities. Meanwhile, nurses, doctors and other health workers are trying to deal with the latest wave.
San Francisco Chronicle: COVID cases may have peaked, but hospitals still face torrent of patients
This winter's omicron surge, the most explosive wave yet of the 2-year coronavirus pandemic, may be peaking in the Bay Area, but hospitals expect more challenging weeks as counts rise. staggeringly high caseloads continue to translate into a torrent of patients. Although the highly infectious omicron variant is causing less severe illness than previous strains of the coronavirus, this winter has been somehow just as difficult for hospitals, healthcare staff and administrators say. They may have fewer very sick patients, but most hospitals are just as busy this year as they were last, as they grapple with staffing shortages caused by COVID, as well as profound physical and emotional fatigue among workers. . (All day, 1/23)
The Wall Street Journal: In hospital overloaded by Omicron, tired nurses treat too many patients
Houston Methodist Hospital, inundated with patients from the latest surge in the pandemic, had too few nurses on a recent morning to turn down all of its beds. Six nurses had been recruited by personnel companies days before. Dozens more were sick with Covid-19. Those who remained worked overtime to help the hospital accommodate a daily throng of very sick new patients. "Today I don't run the same size hospital as I did two months ago," said Roberta Schwartz, chief of incident command at the hospital. (Evans, 1/23)
Los Angeles Times: In South Los Angeles, a busy hospital faces more widespread but less severe COVID infections
A man with painfully swollen legs from congestive heart failure lies on a gurney outside the emergency room, staring up at a leaden sky that threatens rain. A wife helps her husband into a triage tent, after his dialysis center refused to admit him after a positive coronavirus test. Arriving at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital emergency department, people are treated in tents, hallways, cubicles, former administrative offices and ambulance bays. Many wait outside with a cough and sore throat to get tested for the coronavirus. Others come for all sorts of chronic illnesses that perpetually curse South Los Angeles. (Mozingo, 1/23)
The New York Times: A shrinking group of southern nurses, up to their necks in another wave of covid-19
Bobbie Anne Sison was driving to the hospital just before dawn when she got a panicked call from one of her top nurses saying she couldn't come to work because her car had overheated on Route 63. Mrs. Sison, head of infirmary at Pascagoula Hospital. , slammed on the brakes, made a U-turn, and ran for her. โWe have staff members dropping like flies from Covid, so there was no way I was leaving her on the side of the road,โ Sison said a few hours later as he walked the halls of his 350-bed hospital, which has been been filling up steadily with covid patients after a months hiatus. (Jacob, 1/23)
Chicago Tribune: Latest wave of COVID-19 has made it hard to get basic health care
After a year of undergoing treatments for an aggressive form of breast cancer, Heather Mingay was scheduled to have her ovaries removed this month in a bid to help prevent the cancer from coming back. Mingay, 37, of Northbrook, told her manager at work that she was leaving. She got additional child care for her three children. He prepared himself mentally. And then her doctor's office called her about two and a half weeks ago to cancel the surgery. The call came as hospitals across the state suspended elective procedures to help keep beds open, amid a nasty surge of COVID-19 that has sent many people to hospitals, especially the unvaccinated. (Schencker, 1/22)
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Reuters: Rich countries' access to foreign nurses during Omicron raises ethical concerns, group says
The wave of COVID-19 infections fueled by Omicron has prompted rich countries to step up recruiting of nurses from poorer parts of the world, worsening severe staffing shortages in overstretched workforces there, the council said. Nurses International. ... "We've absolutely seen an increase in international recruitment in places like the UK, Germany, Canada and the US," said Howard Catton, chief executive of the Geneva-based group that represents 27 million nurses and 130 national organizations. (1/23)
AP: Governor delays new staffing requirements for nursing homes
Rhode Island is delaying a new law that would fine nursing homes for not meeting minimum staffing requirements. Gov. Dan McKee signed an executive order Friday delaying the law from taking effect until at least February 14, the Providence Journal reported. The law was supposed to go into effect on January 1, but nursing homes warned they would not be able to meet the requirements amid continued staffing shortages. (1/23)
This is part of the KHN Morning Briefing, a roundup of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up to get a email subscription.
