States Get Creative To Find And Deploy More Health Workers In COVID-19 Fight

Public health experts say the United States is in for a shortage of health care workers in many places soon, as cases of COVID-19 escalate. First, the ranks of front-line health workers will be stretched thin, as hospitals fill. And if health care workers have to scramble to care for sick patients without enough protective gear, they will get infected with the virus and fall ill, too.

“The reality is that we’re facing the inevitable shortage of health care providers,” says Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University. “The people that are coming into close contact — and therefore in greatest danger — are the doctors and nurses and people directly examining patients who possibly have coronavirus.”

To address the coming shortage, states from Hawaii to New Hampshire are loosening their licensing rules to give those with clinical skill the ability to pitch in, such as allowing out-of-state physicians to practice right away, asking retired physicians to volunteer, and more. Most states are making these kinds of regulatory changes, according to a tracker maintained by the Federation of State Medical Boards.

Source: NPR