SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. — There is no rest for the weary when you are on the front lines of a pandemic.

Wearing two masks and reporting for duty, Dr. Nathan Rubin compared caring for COVID-19 patients to being at war, but he needs everyone to treat the pandemic just as seriously. 

“They’re not wearing masks, they’re partying with other people. They’re not doing anything to protect themselves, thus injuring everyone else and putting all of these people on our doorstep.”

Dr. Rubin is the chief of staff and leads a team of 300 at Sherman Oaks Hospital. Fears of reaching capacity are sinking in, as open intensive care unit (ICU) beds across Los Angeles County fill up fast.

Sherman Oaks Hospital has one of the premier immune suppressed units in the country and it is no stranger to pandemics. In the early 1980s, Sherman Oak Hospital was the first dedicated AIDS unit in Southern California.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital officials said they were well prepared and never reached capacity, but things have changed. The emergency room is flooded with COVID-19 patients and ICU beds are now full.

The small hospital only has 62 beds throughout three COVID units. They have seen a 40% increase in COVID-19 patients.

“What do we do when we’re overwhelmed? Then we have the unpleasant task of deciding who lives and dies,” Dr. Rubin said.

Over his 40-year career, the L.A. native has worked in several hospitals large and small across the city. He said the benefit of a small hospital is the intimacy. He loves knowing all of his staff and every patient, but that is making it more difficult to make tough decisions during the crisis. 

“Do we take a ventilator out of a 90-year-old and give it to someone who is 40? We have an ethics committee and once we fill up we start making rounds to see who has to give up their ventilator first.”

The hospital has not crossed that bridge yet, but Dr. Rubin feels its inching closer by the day, as Los Angeles residents continue to spread the virus.

“I can tell you from all of us that are here, we feel scared. The treatments, we can put you on a ventilator, but some horrible things are happening and we can't prevent them,” he said.

Dr. Rubin sees promise in the vaccine, but until then the battle continues.

Sherman Oaks Hospital is anticipating the vaccine to arrive later this week. There will be 100 doses or 20 vials between Sherman Oaks and Encino Hospitals. The plan is to stagger the vaccine distribution, giving priority to older doctors and staff members first, spacing it out to account for viral side effects and reactions.