NEW YORK — During a COVID-19 briefing in New York City, Gov. Kathy Hochul stressed the importance of hospital staffing across the state.
The governor says the biggest challenges for New York hospitals is not the personal protective equipment (PPE) or the number of beds, but the staffing.
As of Tuesday, September 7, the governor's office says 2,416 people were hospitalized in New York State with COVID-19. This time last year, 445 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in New York State.
"The hospitalizations are troubling, but if we can keep them from spiking upward, we will be OK," Hochul said.
According to Hochul, the regional hospital capacity is manageable at this time, but she stressed that this can change at a moments notice. Hochul says if the hospital capacity gets worse, then New York State will have to take "more dramatic action" to further increase bed capacity.
In terms of the staffing shortages at healthcare facilities and hospitals, Hochul says New York State is going to hit a "crisis level."
"We're going to hit a crisis level with respect to staffing in health care facilities, hospitals, nursing homes," Hochul said. "I'm trying to do what I can to work with the unions that represent the current employees, how we can find more people, how we can accommodate their concerns and their needs."
Hochul says overall the state needs to make sure that healthcare workers are vaccinated. The governor said that testing can be an option for workers in those settings, but further stressed the importance of those workers getting vaccinated in order to avoid what the state went through last year.