We’ve left no latent capacity in health care. Everyone was working at their maximum. Forget burn-out. People were just holding on. Some stayed for what personal and professional gratification they found. Many stayed because of the financial realities of families and student loans

You know who wasn’t hurting? Working ever/longer hours with ever more complex patients and systems? Administrators. Executives.

But the front-line people and systems were already holding nothing in reserve in this county.

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And some part of the tragedy that’s now unfolding in this country is because of that. Because we let health care become a business. And businesses don’t keep 100 extra fire trucks around, their crews trained and ready, “just in case”.

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This — latent capacity — is the role of a functioning societal safety net.

And we sold ours to the highest bidder.

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