Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y., has temporarily closed 124 beds because of a nursing shortage, according to CNYCentral.
This represents a roughly 20 percent reduction of patient beds at the organization — from 668 staffed beds to 544.
"Upstate continues to make daily assessments on staffing levels to ensure the highest quality of patient care and patient safety," the hospital said in a statement shared with Becker's. "Due to ongoing staffing shortages, Upstate has de-staffed beds to ensure patient to staff ratios are at the safest levels."
Upstate said it is aggressively recruiting new employees and improving pay for extra work.
This includes advocating for enhanced nurse overtime, which was announced in September, and vacation day accruals, which have been extended through December 2022.
As of Nov. 18, the hospital had 400 open nursing positions and a current total RN full-time equivalent workforce of 1,440.