Too little, too late: Hospitals still struggle to get needed emergency staff

Keeping a hospital fully staffed on a day to day basis is no easy task. Throw in an emergency like an outbreak, a hurricane or a pandemic and the situation gets critical. A USA TODAY analysis shows there has been a steep decline in hospital beds around the country. Meaning fewer patients can be treated at hospitals at any one time. We sat down with Jim Kaufman the CEO of the West Virginia Hospital Association who talked about some of the challenges in keeping the right amount of workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also spoke with USA TODAY's National Correspondent Donovan Slack and USA TODAY'S Investigative Reporter Erin Mansfield about a little known workforce deployed by the government to work in hospitals during times of emergency. But is it enough? Will it be enough in future emergencies?

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