Posted on 12/20/2020 7:21:38 AM PST by BenLurkin
It’s a scene playing out across California. According to state data Friday, all of Southern California and the 12-county San Joaquin Valley to the north had exhausted their regular intensive care unit capacity and some hospitals have begun using "surge" space.
In hard-hit Fresno County in central California, a new 50-bed alternate care site opened Friday near the community Regional Medical Center. The beds for COVID-19-negative patients will free up space in area hospitals, where just 13 of some 150 ICU beds were available Friday, said Dan Lynch, the county’s emergency medical services director.
Lynch said he expects they will have to use the Fresno Convention Center, which can accommodate up to 250 patients, given current demand.
Fresno and three neighboring counties also have taken the unprecedented step of sending paramedics on emergency calls to evaluate people. They won’t be taken to the emergency room if they could go to an urgent care facility or wait a few days to talk to their doctors, Lynch said.
Some hospitals have canceled non-essential elective surgeries, such as hip replacements, that might require beds which may soon be needed for COVID-19 patients. Others are increasing staff hours or moving patients to free up space
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
A verified Dr on the ground in the hospital saying they have issues carries more weight than some dude telling me he pulled numbers off the net and saying he sees no problem which to him means Drs who are saying they see problems are lying.
RummyChick wrote: “A verified Dr on the ground in the hospital saying they have issues carries more weight than some dude telling me he pulled numbers off the net and saying he sees no problem which to him means Drs who are saying they see problems are lying.”
There are many who are exploiting this situation to enhance their own self-interests. Many of those have “Dr” in front of their names. If you believe Fauci isn’t playing politics to get more spending, then you haven’t been watching.
“closing the hospitals to all but CV patients almost bankrupted several hospital.”
Wouldn’t you think that hospitals would have a cushion of money to tide them over for a few months of low revenue?
Fact is, though, I have no knowledge of the financial aspects of medical care.
You are wrong to claim no hospital is getting swamped.
But hey, go ahead and pretend all hospitals are operating like they were in 2019 prior to Covid.
RummyChick wrote: “You are wrong to claim no hospital is getting swamped.”
Strawman. I didn’t make that claim. I said the evidence reported in my counties daily assessment of CV impact on my cities hospital didn’t support the claims that it was being swamped. BTW, how does 31 CV patients swamp an 880 bed hospital?
I also said that hospital administrators and major politicians cried wolf back in the spring. If you doubt that, then explain why they said they needed more beds but when the beds provided at the cost of millions of dollars went unused. Don’t forget the unused hospital ships sent to NY. Or, the claims that NY needed thousands more ventilators when they never used all they had. False statements like those do not support your claims that doctors should always be trusted as telling the truth.
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