NEWS
Medical centers have been concerned about staffing since the COVID Delta variant began causing caseload spikes this summer. P H O T O : O L G A K O N O N E N KO
UC Health Chief: Greater Cincinnati Faces Healthcare Staffing Shortage Due to COVID-19 Burnout “This is above and beyond the normal demands on our healthcare system.” BY A L L I S O N BA B K A
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reater Cincinnati hospitals are feeling the stress from so many COVID-19 patients — especially as more and more healthcare professionals opt for less intense careers. During a Sept. 22 briefing with Hamilton County Commissioner Denise Driehaus and Hamilton County Public Health Commissioner Greg Kesterman, Dr. Richard Lofgren — UC Health’s president and CEO — said that the region’s healthcare facilities have been overwhelmed by the current COVID-19 surge. According to the panelists, one in five people using hospital beds and one in three people in intensive care units throughout the region are COVID-19 patients.
“This is above and beyond some of the normal demands on our healthcare system,” Lofgren said. Lofgren said that in Southwestern Ohio, there are typically about 2,400 hospital beds available on a regular basis. In December, about 800 of those were taken by the peak surge of COVID19 patients, pushing healthcare systems to the brink. Today, Lofgren said, COVID-19 patients are using about 600 beds — a number that at first seems marginally better than last winter’s caseload but actually gives way to other problems. Concerns in December largely centered around having enough capacity,
SEPTEMBER 29 - OCTOBER 12, 2021
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