RSV, covid and flu push hospitals to the brink — and it may get worse

When Christina Anderson’s mother started having chest pains in October, they rushed to the nearest emergency room in their hometown of Ottumwa, Iowa. Because of her mother’s ovarian cancer diagnosis, Anderson assumed they would be seen within a reasonable time. Instead, their trip became a nine-hour odyssey.

“When we first walked in, it was packed and unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Anderson said. “I saw people laying across the chairs; some slumped over who had been there for hours before we arrived, and some even got frustrated and left because they couldn’t wait anymore.”