WINONA, Minn. – The county emergency management director, Ben Klinger, sees the imminent possibility of Winona running out of medical staff to treat coronavirus patients. Staffing, Klinger said, is a greater issue than a hospital bed shortage. In an interview on radio station KWNO, Klinger said: “We’re not sending up the flag that we have to activate this yet, but there’s the National Guard.” Also, he said patients can be transferred to other hospitals if the other hospitals have any extra beds. A possibility too is for hospitals to bring back asymptomatic staff in personal protective equipment to staff COVID wards. There is a network of hospital workers who can rush to areas with severe staff shortages, he said.
Klinger. Not yet sending up the red flag.