Providence Shifts Beds, Postpones Surgeries
With 25% of his hospital beds taken up by COVID-19 patients, the hospital system is converting more beds for these patients and deferring surgeries to make room.
With 25% of his hospital beds taken up by COVID-19 patients, the hospital system is converting more beds for these patients and deferring surgeries to make room.
Hospitals are worried staffing levels won’t be able to keep up with demand as doctors, nurses and specialists such as respiratory therapists become exhausted or, worse, infected and sick themselves.
As cases surge, the demand for hospital beds increases and the supply of qualified nurses shrinks which means that traveling nurses employed by agencies are now about to command top dollar.
The institution seeks volunteers for a promising vaccine developed by Oxford University in Britain in collaboration with AstraZeneca, a British pharmaceutical company.
“EDs are actually safe, and people shouldn’t be delaying getting the care that they need,” said a coauthor of a study that analyzed data from dozens of Providence emergency departments in Oregon and Washington.
After the nurses filed a federal complaint and complained to Unity's president, Legacy Health negotiators offered about 10 more dates for bargaining sessions.
In recent days, Oregon has daily set new record highs of COVID-19 cases while its hospitals are reaching capacity.
Though the death rate from COVID-19 has dropped since the pandemic hit, the hospital system wants to be prepared if there is an overflow of deaths.
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A nurse at Rogue Regional Medical Center, the largest hospital in the county, says that for the first time a stream of people are staggering into the emergency room, short of breath.
A total of 177 will be offered new jobs in a Providence affiliate based in Iowa but they'll be able to stay where they are and work under their current boss.l