With COVID-related hospitalizations increasing, staffing shortages in Cameron County hospitals are worsening. 

Many hospital employees are testing positive for the disease and have to stay home.

"It's a larger number of employees that are out at one time,” Harlingen Medical Center Chief Nursing Officer Amy Flores said. “Before, the number was a little smaller. So, that does impact staffing and impacts being able to open up all the beds and taking care of patients in the community."

Flores said the hospital only has about 75% of its staffing to take care of the beds that they do have. 

"We're two years in and a lot of people are tired, and some people have left the profession or have left their local jobs and have taken on traveling jobs because it definitely pays more," Cameron County Health Authority Dr. James Castillo said. 

Flores said they are getting help from the state in the form of more nurses, but the state will determine how long they’ll stay. 

Dr. Castillo said even though positive cases are climbing, people aren't getting as sick as they were before.

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