Coronavirus pushes demand for doctors, nurses to new high
New York is taking measures to create a reserve workforce of healthcare professionals
The demand for medical professionals is hitting an all-time high as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads deeper into the U.S., sidelining doctors and nurses who have been either infected or exposed.
Alexi Nazem, CEO of Nomad -- an online marketplace that connects doctors and nurses with healthcare facilities -- told FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo on Friday that his network has been seeing "tremendous changes" in demand, especially within the virus hotspots.
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“Over the last week, we have a 207 percent increase in the number of job orders across the country,” Nazem said. “We are seeing especially strong demand in hot spots where you are seeing the COVID-19 outbreak, so New York, Washington, also getting some from Illinois, Massachusetts, California, really all over.”
New York is taking measures to create a reserve workforce of healthcare professionals, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo urging retirees to temporarily aid hospital staff if the COVID-19 crisis worsens.
Hospitals are currently offering two to three times regular pay for clinicians, Nazem said.
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“People want to answer that call to serve,” he said. “We have seen a 558 percent increase in the number of clinicians who are applying to jobs, and really stepping up and raising their hand and saying, ‘I want to go to the front lines.”
New York City-based plastic surgeon Dr. Kevin Tehrani is canceling upcoming plastic surgeries and shifting his practice, which has an accredited ambulatory surgical center, primarily to preventative care for the next few weeks to "offer offload support to emergency rooms."
"The goal at the present time is to avoid unnecessary emergency room visits that would take up precious space that is needed by sick COVID-19 patients," Tehrani, of Aristocrat Plastic Surgery, told FOX Business on Friday. "There is also the goal of wanting to help healthy patients from being exposed to sick patients by providing a clean space for them to come to."
Tehrani also has an office in Great Neck, New York.
To date, cases of COVID-19 have soared to more than 240,000 worldwide with at least 10,000 deaths.
In the U.S. alone, infections climbed past 14,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
"During these unprecedented times, we have to put aside what we normally would be doing and do what our community needs us to do," Tehrani added.
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