Beacon Health and Ivy Tech team up to help ease nursing shortage in South Bend area

Overflow units were established in schools, parking lots and convention centers as doctors and nurses braced for the spread of a new virus – COVID-19.

Today, as a new, more contagious variant of the virus consumes the United States, some of the physical infrastructure from those early days remain. What’s not changed, though, is a growing shortage of health care workers needed to care for the predominantly unvaccinated population filling emergency rooms and intensive care units.

Omicron wave: Strained South Bend hospitals brace for latest COVID-19 surge

About 18% of nearly 5,500 hospitals across the country reported shortages in critical care staff on Wednesday, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data, and nearly 25% – or more than 1 in 4 hospitals – said they anticipate shortages within the week.

Nurses rank among the greatest needs in Beacon Health System, CEO Kreg Gruber said. The hospital system posted 350 openings in its time of greatest need, Gruber said.