Hospitals and health systems continue to face staffing strain in the U.S., where new daily COVID-19 cases have climbed 29 percent over the last two weeks. To alleviate the strain, healthcare organizations are taking steps such as bringing in outside help and adjusting daily operations.
Here are seven updates since Aug. 13 showing how hospitals and health systems, along with federal, state and local officials, are working to ease the burden on workers:
California
1. San Diego-based Scripps Health temporarily postponed some medical procedures because of significant staffing shortages and an increase in COVID-19 cases.
Georgia
2. Georgia will spend $125 million to send 1,500 temporary workers to hospitals.
Louisiana
3. Louisiana public health and education officials opened a child care assistance program for hospital workers.
Mississippi
4. Seventy-three hospitals in Mississippi requested more than 1,450 healthcare workers from the state to help address staffing shortages.
Kentucky
5. Kentucky will send National Guard members to struggling hospitals as the state set three new COVID-19 pandemic records Aug. 23.
Hawaii
6. The Queen's Health Systems in Honolulu said it is rescheduling nonemergency surgeries after a surge in COVID-19 patients prompted it to declare an internal state of emergency Aug. 20.
Texas
7. Several facilities at Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White Health postponed elective procedures amid the latest COVID-19 wave, with the specific facilities affected varying daily.