DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF)- Many health care facilities are facing staff shortages amid a surge of Covid-19 hospitalizations, according to the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council.
President and CEO Stephen Love said health care workers have been at this for 18 months and are tired.
He told WFAA-TV that in many situations, hospitals are having to deal with health care professionals deciding to get out of the industry altogether.
“We have a very fatigued workforce,” Love said. “They’re burnt out. They’re just worn out, and they’re leaving.”
According to the DFW Hospital Council, there are over 2,138 COVID-19 patients in Trauma Service Area E, which includes most of the North Texas hospitals.
These hospitals had 450 COVID-19 patients in the hospitals one month ago.
Love said close to 40% of ICU patients in North Texas hospitals are there for COVID-19
Love also said the current patients hospitalized for COVID-19 represent more than 15% of the area’s total bed capacity, and compared to last summer, many patients this time around are much younger.
“I’m talking people in their 20s, 30s, 40s,” Love said. “We’ve got sick patients young age, no other underlying health conditions that are on ventilators.”
Love said the majority of the people in North Texas hospitals right now are unvaccinated.
“This Delta variant is nothing to mess around with, and if you’re unvaccinated, you’re playing Russian roulette,” Love said.
