Like 'Tetris': COVID surge turns staff scheduling at California hospital into a frustrating numbers game

COLTON, Calif. — The 28 patients had camped out for hours and even days in the emergency room of Arrowhead Regional Medical Center. With more than 100 COVID-19-positive patients in the hospital, there weren't enough in-patient beds to put them in.

In the fourth-floor intensive care unit, tired nurses tended to three COVID patients at a time instead of their normal two. Five nurses were out sick and those tasked with scheduling staff likened it to a game of "Tetris," fitting in people wherever they could.

Meanwhile, eight miles away that morning, a handful of Arrowhead nurses pleaded for help from the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors and warned that the county-run hospital would continue to lose nurses if something didn't change.

One of those circumstances would be difficult enough for a regional hospital to deal with. But all three