Key PointsQuestionHow were health care crisis conditions during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic experienced by frontline clinicians?FindingsIn this qualitative study of 23 clinicians, participants reported that official crisis declarations had little impact on their lived clinical experience. In the absence of institutional support, many clinicians were left to allocate scarce resources and adapt practices in the moment, which could have contributed to a waning sense of motivation and purpose as the pandemic persisted.MeaningThese findings suggest that institutional plans to protect frontline clinicians from the responsibility of allocating scarce resources could be unworkable, arguing for greater integration of these clinicians into disaster response, especially in protracted crises.