ICUs are completely full in at least 50 Texas hospitals due to the increase in COVID-19

Hidalgo County Health Authority Ivan Melendez says entering COVID-19 units today has the feeling of going through a nonlinear version of the five stages of mourning: denial, anger, negotiation, depression, and acceptance. .

“You cry,” he said in the gallery. “There is a lady I think I have known since I was a child. … We grew up together and I know he will die. … It’s the same: “We got together for Christmas.” Now we see the ramification ”.

Across Texas, hospital intensive care units are being mistreated as COVID-19 cases continue to increase in a post-holiday increase. Dozens of facilities have reported that their ICUs have had a capacity of more than or greater than 100% for weeks, which has left staff busy and stretched.

Currently, more than 50 Texas hospitals report that their ICUs are 100% full or over, and a dozen of them have been full for more than half of the 24 weeks since hospitals began reporting this. information in July, according to a Texas Tribune analysis of data released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

For example, the Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen and the HCA Houston Medical Health Center in Houston have surpassed 100% for 23 and 22 weeks, respectively.

While statewide hospitalizations 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 beds available in the ICU, a fraction of the thousands that were open in the spring when the pandemic began.

Van Deusen said the pandemic appears to have affected different regions by waves. Currently, the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio areas are experiencing significant increases in COVID-19 cases, according to DSHS data.

Laredo health officials have sent emergency alerts to ask residents to stay home because local ICUs have reached capacity over the past month. Currently, COVID-19 patients occupy almost half of the hospital capacity in this region, according to DSHS data, the highest percentage in the state.

Many cities have had to divert patients to other hospitals as local ICUs overflowed, in addition to expanding and converting the beds available to treat ICU patients.

Meléndez said the count of beds available for the ICU does not give a complete overview of Texas hospitals because they are constantly adjusting to accommodate more patients. If an ICU is technically full, he said, many hospitals can still convert some beds or units available outside of that room to care for patients.

Hendrick Health chief of staff Stephen Lowry said his Abilene hospital has used both fun and bed conversion. Currently, the facility operates at a capacity of 160%, which dropped from a maximum of 180%, he said.

Hendrick Health is the regional reference center for 24 surrounding counties, but Lowry said the hospital has not been able to meet the needs of the area because they have no more space for new patients; they created all the new space they could in the spring before the pandemic arrived.

“It’s really frustrating,” Lowry said. “Hear stories from the community or family members who may have relatives in any of these outlying cities and are having trouble getting their loved ones to have a higher level of care because not only Hendrick, but many others statewide facilities 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 Jan. 8, according to HHS data. Hospital president Joseph DeLeon said that, like many other medical centers, the Texas health resource network has tried to ease the pressure by canceling non-critical outpatient procedures.

But so far, the measures that have helped during the summer the rise of COVID-19 have not worked so well in the winter, DeLeon said.

“We thought, ‘Well, okay, now we have experience in July and we know how it will be.’ But the second wave was different. This time there were a lot more critical patients,” DeLeon told Tribune. “This time, we had a lot more stress on the staff, a lot more stress on the doctors … it was just a test of endurance.”

Cynthia Simmons is the Arlington Public Health Authority and an emergency physician at Arlington Medical City, which has a capacity of approximately 100% for weeks. He said Texans should understand that if there are traffic accidents, heart attacks or other emergencies other than COVID-19, a full ICU at the nearest hospital may mean they may not. there are enough resources available.

“We’re at a time when we have so much COVID in our community, it’s spreading so easily, that the same things we’ve been talking about since public health measures from day one are really important now,” Simmons said. . “I am aware that people are fed up with it. But it is very important, at this time, that we continue these measures to help save capacity in our hospitals. “

Simmons added that people should not delay care if they needed it because emergencies are able to manage both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients, even when they are full.

Simmons and other Texas health workers have expressed hope for the future after the Texas vaccination process began Dec. 14. Tens of thousands have already received a second dose, although millions who are now eligible still expect Texas to receive enough doses to vaccinate health care workers, long-term care residents, people over 65 and those with certain conditions. of health comprising groups 1A and 1B.

But the ICU bed crisis is far from over. While hospitalizations currently do not increase at higher rates in December, a more contagious variant of COVID-19, identified in Harris County on Jan. 7, could cause hospitalizations to increase further as they spread. While it may not make people sicker or affect the mortality rate, the mutation means the virus could spread more quickly and infect more people, said Stephen Love, president and CEO of the Board of Trustees. Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital.

“As a result, more hospitalizations, more capacity issues,” Love said. “Over the next three or four weeks, [it’s] it is absolutely crucial for us to monitor and try to get the word out to people so that they do what they need to stop the spiral. “