We're over 365 days into a pandemic, we need the extra capacity for at least another 365 days, and since when has spending a "fortune" been any impediment to the response to the pandemic?
You could train an orderly up in a few months and have them "helping out" around the place. But Doctors and Nurses are years of lead time training, and they are always in short supply. So even if they threw money at health care, which they haven't, all they can do is add extra wings and beds with no one to actually staff them. Paramedics and ambulance staff are they same, you can buy a fleet of ambulance and have no crew for them. Turnover rate is very high in both areas. And seriously, why in your right mind would you want to be a paramedic, half your calls are drunks and drug ODs on weekends most of which get angry and violent. And recently I've been told some of the Sydney covid calls to houses have been getting abused as well.
Shout out to all the ambulance staff out there, I know a few are ex aviators, Keep up the amazing work!