BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho public health leaders have activated crisis standards of care for the state’s northern hospitals because there are more coronavirus patients than the institutions can handle. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare made the announcement Tuesday morning. The agency is warning residents that they may not be able to get the healthcare they expect because of a severe shortage of staffing and available beds caused by a massive increase in patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization. The activation includes 10 hospitals and healthcare systems in Idaho’s panhandle and north-central Idaho. The move allows hospitals to allot scarce resources like intensive care unit rooms to those most likely to survive.
Idaho enacts crisis hospital care standards amid COVID surge
