There's a bad moon on the rise.
https://www.cpr.org/2021/11/03/colorado-hospital-capacity-covid-hospitalizations-patient-transfer/
There are now more than 1,200 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Colorado. That’s the most since December, as the highly contagious delta variant continues to spread aggressively through the state’s unvaccinated population. For weeks, roughly 80 percent of those hospitalized with coronavirus have been unvaccinated, and nearly 40 percent of hospitals anticipate being short-staffed during the next week.
The CHTC was re-activated in August as COVID-19 hospitalizations were starting to grow again in Colorado – a trend that has continued, putting what the CHA calls “monumental strain” on the state’s health care system.
Physicians working in that system said the move is not unexpected.
“I'm not surprised,” said Dr. Don Stader, an emergency medicine doctor at Swedish Medical Center in Englewood. He said those working in hospitals have been watching as conditions have been deteriorating for months, especially due to high levels of coronavirus patients.
“It's been extremely difficult working in emergency departments of hospitals over the last several months. I think while most people believe that the COVID pandemic is coming to an end, or at least at a status quo, I'll say in hospitals, we're experiencing a significant acceleration of the amount of sick people we're seeing from COVID along with just increasing numbers of other medical diseases.”
Making matters more precarious, a severe staffing pinch.
“We're dealing with a staff crunch where many physicians, especially nurses and others have left the field just because of the pressures and that burnout associated with what the last few years have been like,” Stader said.
Stader said finding a hospital to take a patient has become harder than ever.
“I've heard horror stories, and I've been a part of some of these where you have a patient that is critically ill and needs to be admitted to the hospital,” he said. “You're just trying to find a hospital that has the capability and the skills to care for the patient. And oftentimes you're calling 10 different hospitals just to try to get them on a bed and to get an accepting facility because all the facilities are full.”
Tad-y said transfers from the CHTC are done through a “data-driven process.” That ensures patients can get access to the necessary level of care, while hospitals make the most efficient use of the health care system and protect access to care for as many people as possible.
She added a busy flu season could complicate the picture considerably.
“We are on the cusp of the flu season as well. And that will only add additional pressure to our health systems that we're facing,” Tad-y said.