State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said the surgery restrictions will allow hospitals to shift health care workers to help care for patients with COVID-19.

Hospital officials across the state are worried about not having enough health care workers to care for the quickly growing number of severely ill patients.

As COVID-19 numbers continue to surge across the state, more hospitals are forced to send non-emergency patients elsewhere. But that doesnt mean local hospitals will stop caring for patients needing urgent care.

Across the Midwest, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked. That's forcing some hospital officials to add beds for these patients.

As of Nov. 12, 2,548 Hoosiers are hospitalized with the virus. That's 180 percent higher than it was when Indiana moved to Stage 5 of its reopening plan.

State officials are renewing their call for retired health care workers to help relieve staff in Indiana's hospitals and long-term care facilities as the number of hospitalizations and new infections across the state continue to spike at record highs.

The St. Joseph County Health Department is preparing for a possible surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations.

Iowa is among the states with the fewest COVID-19 cases, but it still has more than 300 confirmed cases and the total increases every day. The state's hospitals, large and small, face a common problem as they get ready for a possible spike in patients: finding enough equipment.

Dr. Kristina Box, the state health commissioner, cited confidentiality arrangements with hospitals for not releasing details about intensive care unit capacity and equipment availability around the state.

Henry Domke, a retired family doctor, has sold prints to more than 340 installations in hospitals and clinics from Connecticut to California, in part because of his subject-matter.