Local Area Hospitals Near ICU Capacities
Hospitals across the Birmingham area are being stretched as the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations continues to rise.
As of Thursday, more than 2,400 COVID patients were hospitalized across the state. About 25% of those hospitalizations were in Jefferson and Shelby counties, according to Dr. Jade Brice, chief medical officer at Shelby Baptist Medical Center.
This is leading some hospitals to limit elective and specialized surgeries that require hospital stays.
UAB Hospital has 219 ICU beds, many of which are for specialized surgeries like neurology and cardiology, according to Anthony Patterson, CEO of UAB Hospital. As of Friday, 174 of the ICU beds were full with COVID-19 patients
“What that does is it compromises our ability to have specialized units where we can do specialized surgeries or procedures,” Patterson said.
Strains on ICU beds extend beyond UAB Hospital. Representatives from other area hospitals like Ascension St. Vincent’s, Grandview Medical Center and Shelby Baptist Medical Center say their hospitals are also being forced to make adjustments.
“Two days ago we received final certificate of occupancy for a seven-bed ICU addition at St. Vincent’s Birmingham, so we are having to adapt,” said Chris Moore, chief nursing officer for Ascension St. Vincent’s.
“We’re daily and hourly looking at ways to improve our bed capacity,” said Dr. Jeremy Rogers, an emergency physician at Grandview Medical Center. “We perform a daily juggling act with beds … The next two weeks are going to be critical for us.”
Aryna Sabalenka beats Jessica Pegula to win her first US Open
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus got past American Jessica Pegula to win her first U.S. Open women’s title and third career Grand Slam title.
一位高调批评中共的异议人士会设下骗局吗？
一位广为人知的中国共产党批评者现在被指欺诈
All Things Considered for September 7, 2024
Hear the All Things Considered program for Sep 07, 2024
Proposed Midwest carbon capture pipeline is stirring controversy
In recent years, there have been lots of proposals for new carbon dioxide pipelines tied to a technology called carbon capture and storage. It's an effort to blunt the impact of climate change. A proposed pipeline in the Midwest would be one of the country's largest designated for carbon capture.
