O’Neill Hospital CEO Worries for Staff

Jan. 11, 2022, 7:02 p.m. ·

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Hospital leaders all around Nebraska are expressing their concerns about the current COVID-19 situation in their locales.

Methodist Hospital in Omaha reported nearly 180 healthcare workers out sick, which includes more than 50 nurses. Elective surgeries are being postponed or canceled currently at Methodist.

Todd Consbruck is the president and CEO at Avera St. Anthony's Hospital in the northern Nebraska town of O’Neill. Consbruck says nurses and doctors in O’Neill are growing weary emotionally and physically due to pressure from the omicron variant.

“We do not have an infinite supply of beds, ER rooms, physicians and nurses, and this new variant is happening very quickly and taking our workforce out with it,” Consbruck said.

Consbruck says his hospital will be in trouble over the next few weeks, if COVID numbers continue on the current trend. He says citizens need to talk with their physicians about whether to get vaccinated. The hospital CEO and other hospital leaders say the public should make a better effort to respect the extremely worn out hospital staff across Nebraska.