Amid ICU Shortage, Alabama Hospitals See Record-Breaking Pediatric Caseload
Medical professionals care for a COVID-19 patient at UAB Hospital.
A record number of children are hospitalized with COVID-19.
According to state health officials, as of Thursday, hospitals were caring for 50 pediatric patients, nine of them on ventilators.
It’s the latest grim statistic in a record-breaking week for Alabama.
“At some point, there’s just physically not enough room to take care of all the sick people in Alabama that we might see if we don’t get more people vaccinated,” State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said during a media call Friday.
More than 2,700 people are hospitalized with the virus statewide, and for the first since the pandemic began, Alabama does not have enough intensive care unit beds for all the patients who need one.
Dr. Don Williamson, president of the Alabama Hospital Association, said hospitals are converting emergency rooms and other units to ICU beds, treating patients in hallways and delaying non-emergent procedures.
“It’s rippling now throughout the health care system,” Williamson said.
Harris said the state has requested federal aid to help with the surge. A team of about a dozen health care workers were deployed Friday to Baldwin County, one of the state’s hardest hit areas. The state could get more assistance soon.
The increasingly dire situation is exacerbated by a severe staff shortage, with remaining medical providers exhausted and frustrated.
“It blows my mind that we have gotten to this point,” said Dr. Cynthia Crowder-Hicks, pulmonologist with Infirmary Health in Mobile. “Nobody feels like they are giving optimal care.”
After more than a month of increasing hospitalizations, deaths from the virus are ticking up.
Harris said in recent weeks, dozens of people have died every day and “virtually all” deaths occur in unvaccinated people.
“We feel like this is preventable,” Harris said. “These people did not have to die. These people did not have to be in the hospital.”
Health experts continue to encourage residents to get vaccinated and wear masks in public. Alabama has seen a recent increase in vaccination rates, but more than 50% of the state remains without a first dose.
Man sentenced to 30 years after police officer shot friend
Alabama’s felony murder law holds someone liable for murder if they participate in a felony that results in someone's death.
US ‘concerned’ by Mexican seizure of Alabama company’s port
Mexico’s seizure of the Caribbean cargo port stretched into its second week Tuesday. Vulcan Materials said that police and prosecutors still had not presented any legal paperwork to justify the seizure.
Proposed Ivey budgets: Income tax rebates; public money for charter schools; modest pay raises
Gov. Kay Ivey’s proposed budget for 2024 will call for state money for start-up charter schools, tax rebates for those who filed income taxes in 2021 and some pay raises for state employees.
Birmingham City Council delays BSC funding decision until at least mid-April
The struggling college is seeking $30 million from Alabama’s Education Trust Fund, as well as $5 million from Birmingham and $2.5 million from Jefferson County.
In the quest for new cancer treatments, researchers look to outer space
The Southern Research team is studying how bacteria reacts in the microgravity environment, and whether it prompts the development of novel cancer therapies.
BSC prez ‘disappointed’ legislature didn’t approve funding but will continue push to stay open
The Alabama Legislature opted not to spend some of the state’s $1 billion-plus allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act to keep the financially troubled liberal arts college open.
