As Covid-19 started spreading across the U.S., hospital executives predicted shortages of intensive-care beds, dwindling personal protective equipment and a dearth of ventilators, according to an article on the Bloomberg website.
Today, almost every state is avoiding ICU bed shortages, according to the consulting firm Advisory Board.
Cafeterias were transformed into medical wards, breathing tubes were recycled, ventilators were split between patients, and specialists like orthopedic surgeons and oncologists were sent straight to the emergency room.
“The amount of innovation that has come to the front, and the speed at which it’s come to practice, is quite amazing,” Jay Swaminathan, a professor at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, said in the article.
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