than why not build new hospitals and why not train more nurses?
Expansion and building of new facilities is ongoing, training is ongoing. In a City like Melbourne this is a 'tap' that is constantly adjusted for flow. However whatever flow setting is put in place now will not come to fruition for 5 to 10 years.
Not sure what logic you are looking for other than what is in place now is the result of decisions that happened 5-10 years ago, and the decisions of today won't be in place for another 5-10 years. By then the Covid mess is over and the standard rate of health care progression will resume.
If the Government could 'print' doctors and nurses like money I'm sure they would do it, they could wrangle down health care costs significantly. Local hospital near me has a few hundred beds vacant that cant be staffed. So building a new hospital or wings won't solve anything in the short term and long term is already planned for future growth.
When the news says 'beds available' they mean beds that are staffed and empty.
Another issue of concern is that fewer and fewer want to work in the Ambulence and Hospital services because of the abuse they cop from the likes of druggies and anti-vax types. So you have a dwindling pool of workers for a massively growing sector of community.