93% Is A Big Number & It’s A Big Medical Problem

ICUs in Texas have now reached 93% capacity statewide and mostly due to patients infected with COVID-19.

Hospital staff are having a tough time with a bad situation of being overwhelmed with an ever growing number of coronavirus hospitalizations.

The situation has come to the point that many Texas hospital systems are temporarily having to close their off-site emergency rooms and sending their staff to their hospitals to support their staff there that has been overstretched by COVID-19.

As an example, on Monday Houston's Memorial Hermann Health System closed three of their emergency rooms in the suburbs of Kingwood, Spring, and Sienna to help ease the burden on its hospital staff.

In a statement Memorial Hermann said... "Closing these locations allows us to reassign the staff to other Memorial Hermann locations where their help is critically needed."

These closings and adjustments are being made throughout the State due to understaffing and the magnitude of surging  admissions to hospitals due to Covid-19.

Of the 7,258 intensive care unit beds in Texas Hospitals, 6,746 were filled Tuesday. That equates to 93%.

Texas Hospital Association spokeswoman Carrie Williams said..."Our hospitals are feeling the burn with a tremendous number of new patients. They are pulling all the levers to extend their abilities, but even if we have the space, we don’t have the staff. We are grateful the state has stepped in and is helping us. This surge has come faster and with more force, and at a time when we were already depleted."

In the past month, coronavirus hospitalizations in Texas have increased by nearly 200%. Texas is quickly approaching the record for having the most coronavirus hospitalizations during the pandemic.

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