The state’s health department will provide training for floor nurses to serve in intensive care units to meet the need of hospitals crowded with severely ill COVID-19 patients.
“There’s more ICU bed and ventilator capacity at hospitals than there is staff who can manage critically ill patients,” said Matt Willis, Marin County’s health officer. “I’m trying to determine, if we had 40 patients who rolled in today, how many staff would you have available to actually come in to the hospital and provide the care they need.”
Willis, as well as health officials in Santa Clara, say their counties plan to participate in the state’s virtual training, announced Friday and offered free of charge to registered nurses.
Meanwhile, in Contra Costa County, officials say the old Ford plant in Richmond could be turned into a site for alternative care in a few days.
—Sara Hossaini (@MsHossaini) and Kevin Stark (@starkkev)