St. Joseph County experiencing shortage of nurses, frontline staff

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. (WNDU) - Staffing shortages are putting a strain on our nation’s health care professionals, and it’s something that’s being felt right here at home.

The surge in COVID-19 infections across the U.S. has caused a shortage of nurses and other frontline staff that can no longer keep up with the flood of patients and are losing workers to burnout.

In St. Joseph County, some hospitals have had to turn patients away because they either don’t have the staff or beds to care for them.

16 News Now spoke to Dr. Mark Fox of the Health Department about the issue.

“In response to the rise in COVID cases, hospitals have had to pull staff back from other areas to help support the acute care needs in the hospital,” Fox says. “Some people aren’t willing to make that change, so they’ve left all of the health care professions just because of the ongoing demand and burden posed by the pandemic. So again, it shifts the care that is available in primary care settings or out in the community and it decreases the staff available to take care of patients in the hospital and none of that is good for our community.”

He’s urging everyone who’s eligible to get the vaccine if they haven’t yet.

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