Staff Shortages and Burnout Topped Challenges for Military Hospitals in Pandemic, Watchdog Finds
Staff shortages in the military health system related to a planned reduction of medical personnel and absences for COVID-19, deployment and other reasons plagued military hospitals in 2020, leaving staff stretched thin and burned out, the Defense Department's watchdog has found.
In some cases, the shortages caused military treatment facilities to decrease their number of inpatient or intensive care beds and up the number of referrals for active-duty personnel to civilian care -- a circumstance that had the potential to prevent service members from getting treated and back to work quickly, according to the DoD Inspector General.
The shortages also resulted in some locations being unable to provide needed specialty care. One facility was forced to medevac four obstetrics patients to another military facility because the community could not accommodate them, while a patient died of COVID-19 in the emergency department at a military hospital that was not equipped for advanced care. That patient could not be transferred because of lack of space elsewhere.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/04/07/staff-shortages-and-burnout-topped-challenges-military-hospitals-pandemic-watchdog-finds.html
