When discussing healthcare in 2022, the topic of Covid-19 often makes an appearance, and for good reason. Have you ever considered how hospitals and healthcare workers have dealt with the threat of Covid for the past two years?

In March of 2020, schools across the world shut down immediately after the introduction of Covid-19, or Coronavirus, and teachers and students alike were worried. Even companies everywhere faced the fear of shutting down forever, employees panicked as jobs were being lost, and many were even worried that their pets might contract the virus. People across the globe were more or less terrified for their future and for their lives, social and personal. Gloves and masks were distributed, stores sold out of basic necessities on a daily basis, and a 6-foot social distancing policy was put in place. Yet while all of these events were taking place, the healthcare industry and its employees waited and waited, until they would have to endure the weight of the world, carrying the health of its individuals on their shoulders.

The waves upon waves of Coronavirus hit hospitals like a tsunami that just kept getting bigger. Staff numbers plummeted, resources were lost, and people just kept getting sicker. Even our local hospital, St. Joseph, felt the heat as the number of cases in Humboldt County kept climbing. In relation to the number of patients in the ER, ED Tech II and CPT I Amber Jones states, “Yes. We still see our regular pretty high influx of patients due to lack of other ways to get medical care locally. But absolutely, people being sick with Covid…and being a little more scared of it…we absolutely see more patients because of it.” In the beginning, however, many were afraid to even step foot in the hospital, as Nick Cordero, ED Tech II and CPT I describes, “But at first, we did not see that many people.” Amber followed this up with, “When Covid first kind of broke as a public knowledge thing, I think people were scared to go anywhere, even for their regular medical care. So we did not see people for maybe even months…” Even though patient numbers didn’t skyrocket in the first few months, hospitals are now overwhelmed with people on the daily, causing worry for employees.

Alongside the worry for patients and their health, the staff, or lack of staff, in hospitals is an issue as well. In an article by The Washington Post, Dan Diamond, Fenit Nirappil, and Dan Keating write, “And hospital staffs are stretched more than ever, with nearly 1 in 4 medical centers reporting this week they have a “critical” staffing shortage, the highest proportion of the pandemic…Many hospitals are reporting record surges of covid cases even as staff shortages hit their highest levels nationally during the pandemic, according to federal health data reviewed by The Washington Post — a one-two punch that is forcing hospitals to turn away ambulances, cancel procedures and warn would-be patients to stay away because they can’t promise prompt care. (Diamond, Nirappil, Keating)” Hospitals employees are stretched to their limits as they put in the most effort to guide people to health and happiness. And with the introduction of new variants, more employees and their family members are being infected, forcing them to stay home amidst all the chaos, causing a shortage in workers.

In an interview embedded in the article by The Washington Post, Romanchik, a University of Michigan states, ““Ventilators, needles or syringes … those things can be ordered and restocked…Nurses and the care we provide are finite resources. We’re not just a number at the bottom line that you can replace.” Nurses, doctors, and many more employees are all important when it comes to healthcare, and with a shortage in these workers, Covid-19 can become even scarier for those who don’t have access to care. The lack of employees can lead to an immense amount of patients, which can in turn cause anxiety and depression in workers. The health of the employees is sometimes ignored, but in order for Covid-19 to be treated all over, employee health and patient health needs to be treated equally.

With staff decreasing and patients increasing, basic resources and even expensive machinery have found themselves in a shortage as well. When I asked Amber about this, she said, “Yes. Absolutely… An increase in demand with a decrease of supply made that incredibly hard to do the things that we need to do.” Resources are incredibly important in a hospital, they allow workers to do their jobs and help people who need them. Big machines and even small tools matter in the grand scheme of things in the healthcare industry. And without employees and the instruments they need, patients may not receive proper care.

Overall, the health of a hospital and its employees matters when it comes to the health of the public and the individual. Without staff, there is no one to care for sick people, without tools, there isn’t always a way to help people become healthy again. If employees are stretched thin with work and as scared as the patients, then this pandemic can become even more deadly than it already is. Healthcare workers encourage us to wear our masks, get vaccinated, and try your best to stay healthy. If we all participate in guidelines and work our hardest to stay healthy, then we will not only help ourselves, but also the lives and happiness of healthcare employees everywhere. While local hospitals are struggling, we can support our family members or friends who work in hospitals, and maybe, just maybe, we can see the bright side of this pandemic.