SACRAMENTO —
California is scrambling to find enough nurses, doctors and other medical staff for the increasing demands of the unrelenting pandemic, with the state having so far acquired just one in 10 temporary contracted positions needed to treat surging caseloads.
Meanwhile, the state’s Health Corps, created by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration in March, has been unable to provide the help needed to make up the difference, with only a small fraction of the thousands of people who signed up for the volunteer service available to staff overloaded facilities.
To address the shortage, Newsom said Tuesday that California is “looking overseas” for additional staffing because other states are “in a similar predicament” to California and can’t spare their own healthcare workers.