“…Hospital chains saw the summer as a potential respite when they could resume postponed hip and knee replacements and even some cancer surgeries. Despite record admissions during the public health crisis, the industry is struggling because profit margins on non-essential care are so much higher, though some systems have deep financial reserves.
“Now, the swath the virus has cut through the Sun Belt is putting a premium on beds and ICUs: Hospitalizations are where they were in late April, according to the COVID Tracking Project, and bans on elective surgeries were reimposed in the past month in more than 100 hard-hit Texas counties and all of Mississippi…”