RSV, COVID-19, flu push U.S. hospitals to brink of collapse: media

Police vehicles are seen at North Shore Hospital in Highland Park,Illinois, the United States, July 4, 2022. (Photo by Vincent Johnson/Xinhua)

More than half a million people in the health-care and social services sectors in the country quit their positions in September.

NEW YORK, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Hospitals across the United States are overwhelmed, with the combination of a swarm of respiratory illnesses (RSV, coronavirus, flu), staffing shortages and nursing home closures sparking the state of distress for the already overburdened health-care system, reported The Washington Post over the weekend.

"Experts believe the problem will deteriorate further in coming months," said the report.

"This is not just an issue. This is a crisis," Anne Klibanski, president and CEO of Mass General Brigham in Boston, was quoted as saying. "We are caring for patients in the hallways of our emergency departments. There is a huge capacity crisis, and it's becoming more and more impossible to take care of patients correctly and provide the best care that we all need to be providing."

More than half a million people in the health-care and social services sectors in the country quit their positions in September -- evidence, in part, of burnout associated with the coronavirus pandemic -- and the American Medical Association says 1 in 5 doctors plan on leaving the field within two years, the report said.

Since the start of the pandemic, health-care workers have faced increasing violence, said Christopher S. Kang, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

According to the American Hospital Association, 44 percent of nurses reported physical violence, and 68 percent said they experienced verbal abuse since the pandemic began, the report said.