FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Governor Andy Beshear made it clear that Kentucky's COVID-19 situation is causing problems for hospitals.
"Over half of all Kentucky hospitals are reporting critical staffing shortages," said Beshear on Friday.
Beshear said 50 of Kentucky's 96 hospitals are struggling to staff enough nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals because of COVID-19.
He also said as hospitalizations continue to increase, hospitals are using a lot of their resources.
"We are seeing things like T.J. Sampson Hospital, which ran out of ventilators - meaning every ventilator they had for normal care had somebody on it," said Beshear.
Beshear said the state sent additional ventilators to assist the hospital. However, with Kentucky's current hospitalization rate, the question is: does the state have enough ventilators?
Beshear said they're able to shuffle ventilators around to where they're needed right now. However, he said it could become a problem if Kentucky's hospitalizations continue to increase.
"I feel good - as long we get the information on the ventilator side - that we can amplify hospitals that are out there," said Beshear. "But if we continue at this rate, we ought to worry about all of it."
