WASHINGTON, DC (April 16, 2020) – As the U.S. healthcare workforce struggles to care for a rise in COVID-19 cases, there are growing reports that there are not enough workers to meet the surge in demand. Some hospitals are reporting they do not have enough respiratory therapists to operate ventilators. And rising numbers of nurses and other health care workers in New York and other states have fallen ill and are quarantined, or simply unable to report to work due to family needs.

To meet the potentially explosive demand for healthcare workers, researchers at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) have created a novel tool that will help states and the federal government estimate the need for health care workers under different scenarios of patient infection rates and health worker attrition. The estimates provided by the new tool will help state and federal pandemic experts plan for large spikes in illness and potential shortfalls of key ICU personnel, such as respiratory therapists, intensivists, critical care nurses and others.

EurekAlert! - WASHINGTON, DC (April 16, 2020) - As the U.S. healthcare workforce struggles to care for a rise in COVID-19 cases, there are growing reports that there are not enough workers to meet the surge in demand. Some hospitals are reporting they do not have enough respiratory therapists to operate ventilators. And rising numbers of nurses and other health care workers in New York and other states have fallen ill and are quarantined, or simply unable to report to work due to family needs. Read more. 

To meet the potentially explosive demand for healthcare workers, researchers at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health have created a novel tool that will help states and the federal government estimate the need for health care workers under different scenarios of patient infection rates and health worker attrition. “This pandemic has put extraordinary pressure on our health workforce,” said Patricia (Polly) Pittman, PhD, director of the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity. 
​Find the press release here.

In this New England Journal of Medicine article, Dr. Patricia Pittmann, director of the Mullan Institute and other Health Workforce Research Center directors outline recommendations that are needed to rapidly increase health workforce capacity and to replenish it when personnel are quarantined or need time off to rest or care for sick family members during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full article.