‘We nearly broke the system’: Hospitals face staff exodus, violence three years into pandemic

A health care worker on Tuesday at Mount Sinai Hospital. COVID is receding but hospitals are left understaffed and struggling to adjust to a new medical reality. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)

Dr. Jaime Moreno, head of emergency medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, was making the rounds Tuesday when he tried to take a quick mid-afternoon break.

“I haven’t had the chance to sit down yet today,” he said, microwaving a container of beef and vegetables brought from home. “I don’t get a lunch, so I’m going to take my lunch right now.”