YUBA COUNTY, Calif. — The Yuba County Office of Emergency Services said hospital surge plans at the only hospital serving Yuba and Sutter counties are non-starters due to staffing shortages, not just locally, but statewide and across the country.
At Adventist Health + Rideout, there is now an entire floor dedicated to coronavirus patients. All of the 20 patients there are on oxygen, according to a county official who expects cases to rise exponentially.
"That's why the community has to step in and do everything it can so the hospitals don't get overwhelmed," said Russ Brown, a spokesman for Yuba County.
The hospital is among the one out of every five across the country expecting critical staff shortages this week, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Brown said the communities must wear masks and avoid gatherings in order to flatten the curve. Officials at the Office of Emergency Services are sounding the alarm that having "alternative care sites" as part of surge plans aren't viable this time around.
"It doesn't matter. We could open up 10 sites right now, [but] we have no people to put there to care for patients," Brown said.
In the spring, reserve health care workers were able to travel between a manageable number of hotspots, but now, Brown said, cases are surging nationwide.
"So much of the country is sick right now that everybody is so busy. We no longer have that option," Brown said.
The state's "California Health Corps" initiative in the spring has not held up to its once promising numbers. About 93,000 retirees and medical students signed up in the spring, but only a small number qualified. The California Department of Public Health said there are currently 900 members available to support hospitals statewide.
"The Health Corps has worked 2,538 shifts to date supporting 109 facilities statewide. The state is closely monitoring the need to deploy staff to support California's response," a spokesperson said in an e-mail.
Brown said that's not nearly enough to relieve overworked nurses and doctors. He added that the message is not meant to fear-monger but to send a clear message that cases are rising, and communities at-large must reduce social interactions and mask up, in order to slow the spread of the virus and keep hospitals from becoming overwhelmed.
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