Kentucky hospitals on brink of rationing care: Governor
Kentucky is "quickly approaching that point" where hospitals will need to start rationing care, Gov. Andy Beshear warned on CNN.
Over two-thirds of Kentucky's hospitals have critical staffing shortages, the governor said. FEMA and National Guard teams have been called in and nursing students have been deployed across the state, he said.
![](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/ems-louisville-gty-ps-210908_1631120429320_hpMain.jpg)
![PHOTO: Louisville Metro EMS paramedics roll a medical gurney into the home of a woman suspected of having a severe COVID-19 emergency, Sept. 6, 2021, in Louisville, Ky, during a surge in cases.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/ems-ky-covid-gty-ps-210908_1631120020191_hpMain.jpg)
"We've got one hospital in Morehead called St. Clair that's closed three operating rooms to expand ICU bed space," he said. "We had a hospital in Danville, Kentucky, that's not used to treating really sick patients, that had a morgue for two -- and had seven individuals pass away in their hospital over one weekend."
"We've set up tents outside Pikeville Medical Center to triage whether people really need to be in the hospital or not," Beshear continued. "We're in a very precarious situation."
-ABC News' Brian Hartman