A file image taken July 28, 2020 shows a nurse caring for a coronavirus patient in the Intensive Care Unit at El Centro Regional Medical Center in El Centro, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania asked the federal government on Wednesday to send health care workers to bolster hospitals and nursing homes that are increasingly under stress from persistent staffing shortages and the latest COVID-19 surge.The Wolf administration requested that the Federal Emergency Management Agency send strike teams to hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and ambulance companies in the hardest-hit areas of the state.Hospitals and nursing homes statewide have been sounding the alarm as largely unvaccinated COVID-19 patients.