“You cry,” he told the Tribune. “There is a lady I am caring for that I have known since I was a child … we grew up together and I know that she will die … It’s the same thing: ‘We got together for Christmas. ‘Now we are seeing the ramifications of that. “
Across Texas, hospital intensive care units are suffering from the increase in COVID-19 cases in a sudden increase after the holiday. Dozens of health units reported that their ICUs have had a capacity of 100% or more for weeks, leaving the team overloaded and overloaded.
More than 50 Texas hospitals are reporting that their ICUs are 100% full or more, and a dozen of them have been full for more than half the 24 weeks since hospitals started reporting this information in July, according to a Texas analysis Tribune gives data released by the US Department of Health and Human Services.
See how many Texas hospitals have run out of ICU beds
On January 8, 53 Texas hospitals reported that their ICU beds were full. About 200 Texas hospitals with more than four patients or ICU beds report their weekly ICU data – which includes patients with COVID-19 – to the federal government.
Note: Since data from hospitals with fewer than four patients or less than four ICU beds for staffed adults are edited, we cannot calculate the percentage of staffed ICU beds. About 200 of the more than 400 hospitals in Texas that reported data to the federal government have less than four adult ICU beds with staff at any given time.
Source: Department of Health and Human Services
Credit: Carla Astudillo
For example, Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen and HCA Houston Healthcare Medical Center in Houston were more than 100% for 23 and 22 weeks, respectively.
Although hospitalizations across the state due to COVID-19 appear to be stabilizing, there is still cause for concern, said Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for the Texas State Department of Health Services. Across Texas, there are about 600 ICU beds available – a fraction of the 2,000 that were opened in the spring when the pandemic began.
Van Deusen said the pandemic appeared to hit different regions in waves. Currently, the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio areas are seeing significant spikes in COVID-19 cases, according to DSHS data.
Health officials in Laredo sent emergency alerts pleading with residents to stay home because local ICUs reached maximum capacity last month. Currently, patients with COVID-19 occupy almost half of the hospital’s capacity in the region, according to DSHS data – the highest percentage in the state.
Many cities had to divert patients to other hospitals as their local ICUs overflowed, in addition to expanding and converting available beds to treat ICU patients.
Melendez said that the count of available ICU beds does not give a complete picture of Texas hospitals because they are constantly adjusting to accommodate more patients. If an ICU is technically full, he said, many hospitals may still convert some available beds or units outside that ward to give patients ICU care.
Hendrick’s chief of staff, Stephen Lowry, said his hospital in Abilene used both diversion and bed conversion. The facility is currently operating at 160% capacity, which is below a peak of 180%, he said.
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Hendrick Health is the regional referral center for 24 neighboring counties, but Lowry said the hospital has not been able to meet the needs of the area because they no longer have room for new patients; they created as much new space as they could in the spring before the pandemic struck.
“It’s really frustrating,” said Lowry. “You hear stories from the community, or from family members who may have relatives in one of these outlying cities, and they are having trouble putting their loved ones on a higher level of assistance, not just for Hendrick, but for many others. facilities across the state are full and cannot accept transfers. “
Texas Health Fort Worth, one of the busiest hospitals in Tarrant County, reported reaching 100% of ICU capacity on January 8, according to HHS data. The hospital’s president, Joseph DeLeon, said that, like many other medical centers, the Texas health care network tried to ease the pressure by canceling noncritical outpatient procedures.
But so far, the measures that helped during the peak of COVID-19 in the summer have not worked so well in the winter, said DeLeon.
“We thought, ‘Well, ok, now that we have some experience in July, we kind of know what it’s going to be like.’ But the second wave was different. There were a lot more seriously ill patients this time, “DeLeon told the Tribune.” This time, we had a lot more stress on the team, a lot more stress on the doctors … it was just a stress test. “
The Texas Tribune has a research tool in which you can see the capacity of Texas hospital ICUs on January 8 in several Texas cities, including Houston.
Cynthia Simmons is the Arlington public health authority and emergency room physician at the Medical City of Arlington, which has been at almost 100% capacity for weeks. She said that Texans should understand that if they are in a car accident, have a heart attack or face other emergencies unrelated to COVID-19, a comprehensive ICU at the nearest hospital could mean that there may not be enough resources available.
“We are at a point where we have so much COVID in our community, which is so easily spread, that the same things we talked about in public health measures from day one are very important now,” said Simmons. “I am aware that people are tired of this. But it is very, very important at this point, that we continue these measures to help save capacity in our hospitals.”
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Simmons added that people should not delay service if they need to, because emergency rooms are adept at treating COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients, even when they are full.
Simmons and other Texas health professionals expressed hope for the future after the Texas vaccination process began on December 14. Tens of thousands have already received a second dose, although millions of people who are now eligible are still waiting for Texas to receive enough doses to vaccinate health workers, long-term residents, people over 65 and with certain health conditions. that integrate groups 1A and 1B.
But the squeeze in the ICU bed is far from over. Although hospitalizations are not increasing at the highest rates in December, a more contagious variant of COVID-19, identified in Harris County on January 7, could cause a sharp increase in hospitalizations as it spreads. While it may not make people sick or affect the death rate, the mutation means that the virus can spread more quickly and infect more people, said Stephen Love, president and CEO of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council.
“As a result, more hospitalizations, more capacity problems,” said Love. “For the next three to four weeks, (it’s) absolutely critical for us to monitor and try to get people to do what they need to do to contain the spiral.”
The Texas Tribune is a non-profit, non-partisan media organization that informs Texans – and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government and state issues.