Health systems needs to be ready for perhaps 15 or 20 percent of staff to either get ill themselves, needing time away to recover, or need time to tend to illnesses in their family, according to an article on the Colorado Public Radio website.
For instance, Colorado state regulators have loosened requirements for medical professionals in Colorado, bringing in contract nurses from out of state and tapping into students and faculty at the University of Colorado School of Medicine,
The plan in place at UCHealth is to “stretch” staff as needed and that there are backup measures already built into planning.
Hospitals should anticipate, based on the Italian experience that “we're going to need to be able to bring other people in,” particularly to treat patients that don't have COVID.
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