SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the U.S., Sara Houze has been on the road going from one hospital to another to care for COVID-19 patients on the brink of death.
A cardiac intensive care nurse from Washington, D.C., with expertise in heart rhythm, airway and pain management, her skills are in great demand as infections and hospitalizations skyrocket nationwide. Houze is among more than 500 nurses, doctors and other medical staff California has deployed to hospitals that are running out of capacity to treat the most severe COVID-19 cases.
Her six-week assignment started Monday in San Bernardino, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, and she anticipates working 14-hour shifts with a higher-than-usual caseload. San Bernardino County has 1,545 people in hospitals and more than 125 are in makeshift “surge” beds, which are being used because regular hospital space isn’t available.
2020/12/22 13:01 FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2020, file photo, registered nurse Virginia Petersen works on a computer while assisting a COVID-19 patient at Providence Holy. FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2020, file photo, registered nurse Virginia Petersen works on a computer while assisting a COVID-19 patient at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles. California is desperately searching for nurses, doctors and other medical staff, perhaps from overseas, to meet demands as the coronavirus surge pushes hospitals across the state to the breaking point. With many of the state s hospitals running out of capacity to treat the severest cases, the state has brought in and deployed more than 500 extra staff but it needs a total of 3,000 temporary medical staff members. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
L.A. hospitals are being stretched increasingly thin as the massive surge in coronavirus cases roars ahead unabated. Things are getting so bad that we could be looking at rationed care in the not-too-distant future. We have no ICU beds, said Brad Spellberg, chief medical officer of L.A. County-USC Medical Center, one of the area s largest hospitals. We are just continually, 24 hours a day scrambling to move patients around. The flood just continues.
Within a matter of days, County-USC will be forced to make its exhausted staff treat even more patients than they have been, he said. We are the safety net, that is the point, Spellberg said. The safety net itself is stressed to the limit.
Christopher Weber
A mobile field hospital is set up at UCI Medical Center, Monday, Dec. 21, 2020, in Orange, Calif. California s overwhelmed hospitals are setting up makeshift extra beds for coronavirus patients, and a handful of facilities in hard-hit Los Angeles County are drawing up emergency plans in case they have to limit how many people receive life-saving care. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) December 21, 2020 - 2:44 PM
LOS ANGELES - Californiaâs overwhelmed hospitals are setting up makeshift extra beds for coronavirus patients, and a handful of facilities in hard-hit Los Angeles County are drawing up emergency plans in case they have to limit how many people receive life-saving care.