President and CEO of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council, Stephen Love, has called attention to the shortage of staff in many health facilities.
According to Love, many healthcare professionals are leaving the industry.
“We have a fatigued workforce,” Love said. “They’ve been at this 18 months.”
The health leader went on to say that the shortage goes beyond doctors and nurses. Therapists and supporting staff, as well as other personnel in the health industry, are quitting their jobs.
As of Saturday, Aug. 7, the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council recorded 2,138 COVID-19 patients in Trauma Service. This is a massive increase of the 450 counts of patients in the hospitals one month ago. As of last week, the patients take up 15% of the area’s total bed capacity.
According to Love, around 35-37% of ICU patients in North Texas hospitals were hospitalized due to COVID-19.
He also noted that compared to last year, there are more younger patients this time.
“I’m talking people in their 20s, 30s, 40s,” he said. “We’ve got sick patients, young age, no other underlying health conditions that are on ventilators.”
Love also stated that many of the patients in North Texas hospitals are unvaccinated. Most of the vaccinated patients are older citizens, he said.
He urged the unvaccinated in Dallas-Fort Worth to get vaccinated, as the Delta variant is deadly.