LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s hospitals are even more crowded now than they were at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in November.
That prompted Gov. Pete Ricketts to announce a “staffing emergency” Thursday to try to address a severe shortage of health care workers.
The state’s hospitals were treating a 3,162 patients as of Wednesday, up from 3,074 on Nov. 20, when the number of known cases was at its all-time high.
Most of the recent hospitalizations aren’t virus-related, however.
Ricketts says the increase was driven by patients seeking treatment for other medical problems.