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. Much of California has exhausted its usual ability to staff intensive care beds, and the nation’s most populated state is desperately searching for 3,000 temporary medical workers to meet demand. California hospitals typically turn to staffing agencies during flu season, when they rely on travel nurses to meet patient care needs. AdvertisementThis time, many hospitals are postponing procedures that are not emergencies, said Jan Emerson-Shea, a spokeswoman for the California Hospital Assn. California also has opened alternative care facilities for people with less serious illnesses to save hospital beds for the sickest patients.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 22, 2020 18:28 UTC