NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — As the delta variant spreads, hospitals are once again being tested as beds fill up and medical teams combat a surge in hospitalizations of unvaccinated people.
"Adding these cases on top, it's really straining the system to the point where we're really bulging at the seams," said Dr. Todd Rice with Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
It's demand for hospital beds and medical teams that doctors say hasn't been seen since the holiday season when most people didn't have access to a vaccine.
Rice says on top of the workload, nurses and doctors face a sense of "exasperation" that the people they are treating could have more than likely prevented their hospital stay with a vaccination. Doctors say that exasperation is leading to burnout among medical staff, who thought they were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel after vaccines rolled out.
"Now as we've seen this uptick, a number of people have come to me and said, 'I just don't know if I can do another one of these,' sort of at wit's end," Rice said.
