Pittsburgh hospitals running near capacity

2 years ago 373

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Some hospitals astir occidental Pennsylvania are going done different COVID surge. Doctors archer KDKA’s Amy Wadas it’s the 2nd highest highest of the pandemic, but they accidental it’s antithetic this clip around.

Doctors astatine UPMC and different hospitals successful the country accidental they’re not conscionable seeing an summation successful COVID patients. They’re besides seeing much radical coming into the infirmary for different things similar bosom attacks, strokes and adjacent immoderate flu cases.

“We’ve been moving adjacent capableness for weeks now,” said UPMC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Donald Yealy.

Yealy says hospitals are straining close now.

In summation to an summation successful COVID patients and radical coming to the infirmary with different illnesses, they’re inactive dealing with unit shortages.

“With galore much seeking care, galore much terrible forms of unwellness and the strain connected the workforce, it has taken longer successful immoderate cases to commencement care,” said Yealy.

It’s resulted successful longer ER hold times, thing Yealy says has gone up implicit the past fewer weeks. Hospitals are besides dealing with staffing issues astatine nursing homes.

“There’s the throughput, the availability of nursing homes due to the fact that they’re besides affected with staffing truthful that’s besides limited,” said Dr. Don Whiting astatine Allegheny Health Network.

Whiting said transfers from smaller assemblage hospitals is different happening to add.

“There are a batch of calls for transfers for antithetic things that can’t beryllium managed successful assemblage hospitals,” said Whiting.

Doctors accidental they effort to accommodate transfers, but successful immoderate cases, they can’t. Butler Memorial Hospital says it had much COVID cases successful its infirmary past week than immoderate different clip during the pandemic. Butler’s spokesperson went connected to accidental the larger hospitals are usually retired of beds to transportation patients to.

“The assemblage hospitals are elevating the level of attraction they springiness and radical they support due to the fact that they cognize it’s harder to transportation people,” said Dr. Whiting.

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Doctors astatine some UPMC and AHN accidental they’re capable to accommodate patients who request attraction successful the ICU and those who request ventilators. Whiting says the request isn’t arsenic precocious successful that country arsenic it was this clip past year, arsenic COVID cases aren’t arsenic severe.