The reports have come in from all across the country: Hospitals are filling up, especially in the Midwest, and they are running out of the staff they need to take care of patients.
Last week, the United States broke its record from April for the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, blowing past 60,000 all the way to 73,000, according to data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic.
Now new data released by the Department of Health and Human Services quantify the crisis in America’s hospitals in closer detail. At The Atlantic’s request, HHS provided data on the number of hospitals experiencing staffing shortages. From November 4 to November 11, 958 hospitals—19 percent of American hospitals—faced a staffing shortage. This week, 1,109 hospitals reported that they expect to face a staffing shortage. That’s 22 percent of all American hospitals.
In eight states, the situation is even more dire. More than 35 percent of hospitals in Arkansas, Missouri, North Dakota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin are anticipating a staffing shortage this week. COVID-19 puts pressure on hospitals in two ways. One, staff […]
I am starting to have problems with the simplest things like getting prescriptions for myself and mainly my poor wife who is a blind diabetic with serious heart problems and 12 prescriptions which I need to keep filled since I am her caregiver. I also have to do cooking, washing of clothes, and dishes, and keeping our 2 thirty year old cars on the road, not to mention putting up vegetables in the freezer and canning jars for our yearly supply of food. I have also found out that I must pull my own teeth because the dentists in our area think they are kings because of how crazy their prices they charge are; I have pulled 6 of my own teeth so far. I am the only person I know who does all that.