COVID-19 is surging across the state, and some hospitals are facing a crisis.

At least a third of hospitals in southwest and south-central Pennsylvania expect staffing shortages in the next week, state data shows. Still, officials are leaving decisions about how to handle such dilemmas up to health-care systems, Spotlight PA reports.

They expect providers in different regions to work together and, if necessary, share resources like equipment, supplies, staff and beds

But should that collaboration fail to appear, hospitals big and small aren’t likely to receive reinforcements from the state.

THE CONTEXT: Pennsylvania shattered its previous record for daily COVID-19 cases Thursday, reporting more than 11,400 new infections statewide.

That's concerning news for hospitals, not because they're necessarily running out of beds, but because there aren't enough trained health-care workers to take care of the people in them.

The state is requiring hospitals to cut elective procedures in half if they meet certain criteria, like a lack of staff. Should the worst happen, and cases continue to surge past staffing capacity, the state has very limited resources to offer.

Multiple Pennsylvania National Guard teams are currently deployed in long-term care facilities and are not available to assist hospitals, Health Secretary Rachel Levine said Thursday. 

“They can't be in two places at once,” she said. “So right now, that's their mission."

"This is a national problem embedded in a lot of affiliates. We're one example of a larger problem.”

— Aspen Christian, a digital organizer with Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates, on widespread racism and transphobia within the lobbying and political organization. Its executive director, Emily Callen, resigned this week.