(Bloomberg) -- Citing burnout and dwindling ranks of workers, Colorado has activated a “crisis standards of care” hospital staffing plan giving the health care industry broad authority to fill personnel gaps as Covid-19 cases surge statewide, officials announced Tuesday.
The staffing plan allows for such things as “just in time” training for employees to assume responsibilities beyond their normal role and level of certification, according to the state Department of Public Health and Environment.
“Staff shortages due to Covid-19 illness, increased workloads due to hospitals working at capacity, and staff burnout are all making working conditions difficult and often outside the scope of conventional care,” the department said in a statement.
Colorado's surge in cases, mainly among the unvaccinated, has led to a shortage of “staffed hospital beds” with intensive care unit bed availability at less than 100 for a state with a population of 5.7 million. Colorado's hospitals have also activated a mutual aid plan allowing statewide patient transfers to ease crowding even with 80% of eligible state residents having received at least one vaccine dose.
Separately, Colorado will broaden the availability of coronavirus booster shots, allowing all adults regardless of age an additional inoculation because of the statewide infection risk, officials said.
Data posted on the health department website Tuesday show 1,426 Covid-19 patients hospitalized. Total acute care bed capacity, which includes ICU beds and medical-surgical unit beds, is about 2,000 across Colorado.
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