A nationwide shortage of nurses and other staff continued to undermine the financial health of Philadelphia-area health systems during the first three months of the year, a period that included the worst of the devastating omicron wave. This unprecedented spending surge caused a rare loss for the University of Pennsylvania Health System as well for Jefferson Health, Main Line Health and Doylestown Hospital during the year’s first quarter. The need to pay more for workers has also dramatically slashed the performance of the Temple University Health System and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, records show.