By Heather Hollingsworth, Associated Press:
A small-town hospital in Kansas has been running out of staff because of the coronavirus. The situation at Rush County Memorial Hospital in La Crosse, Kansas illustrates the depths of the COVID-19 crisis in rural America.
The radiology technician had been sleeping in an RV in the parking lot because his co-workers were out sick with COVID-19 and no one else was available to take X-rays. A doctor and physician assistant tested positive on the same day, briefly leaving the hospital without anyone who could write prescriptions.
The virus is sidelining nurses, doctors and medical staff nationwide, but the problem is particularly dire in rural communities because they don’t have much of a bullpen – or many places to send patients with regional hospitals full.
