. >> reporter: ceo michael dowling says the size and experience in disasters with 9/11 had advantages. >> did load balancing, able to use transport to move patients from queens to westchester, to eastern long island. if we'd not been able to, hospitals in queens would have been overwhelmed. >> reporter: small hospitals like lexington regional have fewer resources. with explosion of cases across the midwest, larger hospitals who usually take their transfer patients are turning them away. >> covid has locked us in a bits of a situation. >> reporter: hospital ceo leslie marsh has a staffing gap. employees have tested positive for the virus and four nurses resigned. and traveling nurses normally fill in. >> we don't have the staff to care for five ventilated patients. >> reporter: what are the health care professionals at your hospital telling you about concerns about coming months? >> nurses are getting burned out and leaving. want a job that's not so stressful. >> reporter: ppe like gloves, lexington regional only has a two-week supply. during the spring surge, marsh used a lifeline, ge