Arizona nurse shortage sidelines non-COVID patient transfers

PHOENIX (AP) — An ongoing nursing shortage in Arizona will likely keep non-COVID-19 patients from quickly getting transferred to more equipped hospitals. State health officials this week rejected a request to expand the state “surge line,” a call-in system to find beds for critically ill COVID-19 patients, to include people with other medical needs. The Arizona Daily Star reports officials say transfer requests for non-COVID-19 patients are on hold. Gov. Doug Ducey’s administration established the surge line last year to better facilitate transfers of patients who were extremely sick with COVID-19. Meanwhile, the state dashboard Thursday reported 3,013 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 69 more deaths.