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With a second pandemic winter approaching, there are promising signs that the worst of the delta surge has run its course, but in America's hospitals — already short-staffed and backlogged from the summer torrent of COVID-19 — the relief may only be short-lived.

Many are staring down a tough stretch of colder months with the threat of a potentially bad influenza season, an influx of patients trying to catch up on delayed care and a depleted workforce that's had little time — if any — to regroup from this latest wave of coronavirus infections.

"It's like a perfect storm, right? High volume, high acuity and low staff," says emergency physician , who's chief medical officer for the health care staffing group Vituity. "Winters are already tough for hospitals and emergency departments."