Idaho lifts ‘crisis standards’ designation for hospitals

By REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho has lifted the “crisis standards of care” designation for hospitals in the southwestern portion of the state, with public health officials saying coronavirus-related staffing and blood shortages have improved somewhat, though hospitals remain stressed. The crisis standards of care designation allows hospitals to triage health care as needed when they don’t have the capacity to deal with patient influxes. They were put in place for 18 counties in the southern half of the state about three weeks ago, as the omicron variant of the coronavirus surged statewide. A tally by Johns Hopkins University shows that Idaho ranks ninth in the country for newly reported COVID-19 cases per capita.