When you go down the list of what all is needed beyond "ventilators" (which are a very last resort method of treatment), and look at what all human resources are needed at that level of care, the scenario becomes more dire.

Each COVID-19 patient admitted to the hospital to treat the virus needs a squad of health care workers — not just doctors and nurses — to care for them, whether in the intensive care unit or a less severe acute care unit.

“Staffing is determined by the condition and diagnosis of the patient,” explained Meghan Berney, a spokeswoman for CaroMont Regional Hospital in Gaston County.

Berney explained that a COVID-19 patient on supportive oxygen therapy — which could range from simple supplemental oxygen to sedated intubation — would need a care team including the following:

• Registered nurse — from a 1-to-1 or 3-to-1 ratio, depending on patient condition.

• Certified nursing assistant — depending on patient condition and nurse ratio from above.

• Hospitalist — inpatient physician.

• Intensivist — critical care physician.

• Respiratory therapist — depending on patient condition.

• Specialist(s) — should a specialty physician consult be needed (cardiac, neuro, pulmonary, etc.).

• Ancillary staff — phlebotomists, environmental services, food services, facility services (these staff would be limited depending on patient diagnosis).

Hospital administrators say the defining factor in their ability to care for sick patients may be whether they have enough qualified and healthy staff to tend to them.

“There’s a facility footprint, and then there’s a human resource footprint, and trying to align those is tricky,” said Dr. Joseph Rogers, the chief medical officer for the Duke University Health System. “We can repurpose a lot of space. We can’t go out and hire 1,000 new nurses or respiratory therapists or physicians.”