Staff shortages mean hospitals in many states are unprepared for another wave of COVID-19 patients. Short-staffed hospitals will be less able to add beds during a surge of COVID-19 or other respiratory viruses this winter. Jared Polis has asked hospitals to add up to 500 beds by mid-December to handle COVID-19 patients, for instance. Outpatient facilities and nursing homes also lack enough workers—for many of the same reasons that hospitals do—adding to the pressure on hospitals, state officials and health care experts say. Many health care workers are burning out, say nurses and experts who study the health care workforce.
