Volunteers Rushed to Help New York Hospitals. They Found a Bottleneck.

“It’s better than nothing, but still seems low compared to agency nurse pay,” said the nurse, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of losing her job.

As more front-line health workers fall sick, hospitals have pulled out all the stops to replenish their ranks. They are reassigning other doctors to work the emergency room, while medical students are graduating early to help.

Still, tens of thousands of eager volunteers are waiting on the sidelines.

Julia Ruiz, a nurse at a private plastic surgery practice, lives in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, a 10-minute walk from the nearest hospital.

She responded to three emails from New York State with the same volunteer questionnaire. She signed up again last week after the mayor sent an emergency alert to cellphones in the city asking for medical personnel. On Wednesday, almost three weeks after she initially applied, a state representative called to ask about her skills, including whether she could intubate patients.

She still does not have a volunteer assignment.

Private recruiters have bombarded her with paid openings, she said, as rates around the country have gone up and competition has increased for qualified workers. One told her that, for tax reasons, the company could pay her more if she took an assignment further away, in a state like Tennessee instead of New York.

“I’m trying not to do this to profiteer,” Ms. Ruiz, 38, said. “Put me to work. I could not be closer. Do I just show up to the door?”

Dr. Dennis Gray, a private-practice anesthesiologist in Atlanta, started volunteering on Wednesday at Woodhull Medical Center, a public hospital in Brooklyn. The city arranged a free flight and hotel for him.