Nurses Say Colorado Hospitals Are In Crisis And It’s Getting Worse

Article publisher: 
4CBS Denver
Article date: 
26 November 2021
Article category: 
Colorado News
Tags: 
Medium
Article Body: 

She was named nurse of the year in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, she’s been fired — and is speaking out. Stevie Silvers says UCHealth let her go, a year and a half after honoring her for “transformational leadership.”...

Because of the exemption, she’s required to get a COVID test every 72 hours. She says she had a reaction to the nasal swab, and UCHealth fired her — instead of giving her a saliva test....

“We do have a population that includes our COVID patients that we wouldn’t have had two years ago, but it doesn’t speak to why our hospitals are full the way they are.”...

According to the CDPHE, about 25% of the COVID hospitalizations it reports are people being treated for something else, who happened to test positive.

The Colorado Hospital Association says overall COVID patients represent about 15-18% of the hospital population. More concerning are hospital staffing numbers — 46% of hospitals anticipate a shortage of workers in the next week.
 
The Colorado Hospital Association says overall COVID patients represent about 15-18% of the hospital population. More concerning are hospital staffing numbers — 46% of hospitals anticipate a shortage of workers in the next week...