Colorado nurses being furloughed or laid off with fewer patients coming into emergency room

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- El Paso County is seeing a record low in the number of people going to the emergency room out of fear of contracting COVID-19.

While it may sound like a good thing that fewer people are going to the ER, it's leading to medical staff like nurses being furloughed or laid off from their jobs.

“That combined with the postponement of many of the elective surgery cases has met reduced volumes for many hospitals,” said Julie Lonborg, the senior vice president for the Colorado Hospital Association. She says the biggest impact on nurses is happening in Colorado's rural hospitals. She says nurses' hours have been cut, their pay has been cut, some have even been asked to take a vacation.

Lonborg says, “Hospitals do what any business does and what any of us Coloradans would do and that’s to adjust and manage expectations.”

However, nurses are working around these issues. Many have gone to different hospitals in the state that have the opposite problem -- staff shortages -- to help out.

“One hospital had a nurse that was sick and another had fewer hours so they were able to share staff that way," said Lonborg.

According to the state's website, out of Colorado's 100 hospitals, only three have reported anticipating a shortage within the next week. While it looks like there isn't a lot of options for nurses, as soon as elective surgeries are allowed again in May, Lonborg says things should pick up again.

“It is likely that most of those folks will be called back into work," she said.