Explainer: How Does Hospital Staffing Work, Anyway?

Arlington TX

07 October, 2021

7:03 PM

Description

By Alexis Allison, Fort Worth Report October 7, 2021 After an uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations began in June, local hospital systems have closed or kept closed off-campus locations, halted elective surgeries and Hail Mary'd people to get the vaccine. "All COVID-19 related care must take place in real time while hospitals also handle their core functions," John Hawkins, the senior vice president of government relations at the Texas Hospital Association, wrote in a September letter to the Texas Legislature. He went on to list those core functions: planned care, like cancer surgeries and knee replacements, urgent care and "the special care given by hospitals at the beginning and end of life." Hawkins was urging the legislature to extend state funding for thousands of out-of-state medical personnel past September. They did. As of Monday, more than 1,800 of those personnel were working in counties across north Texas, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.