Birmingham Hospital Leaders: COVID Surge ‘Heartbreaking … And Largely Preventable’
Birmingham’s hospital leaders are raising the alarm about the recent spike in COVID-19 cases.
“We’re feeling the surge and it’s real,” said Dr. Tim Bode, chief medical officer with Ascension St. Vincent’s Hospital.
Bode joined executives from seven local hospitals at a press conference Wednesday. He said St. Vincents is treating close to 100 patients for COVID-19, up 700% in the past three weeks.
Officials with Grandview Medical Center said they have seen a 500% increase in COVID patient volume during the past month.
Numbers reflect an “unprecedented” surge in hospitalizations statewide, which topped more than 1,700 Wednesday afternoon, a 750% increase since early July.
Alabama Department of Public Health
Graph shows statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations since March, 2020.
“The slope of the line, the ramp up of the infections, has just been incredible as compared to last time,” said Dr. Elizabeth Ennis, chief medical officer with Brookwood Baptist Health.
Ennis said Brookwood is diverting resources and space to treat the influx of COVID patients. She said hospitals are already short staffed, with medical providers tired and stressed.
Hospital leaders urged residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19. They said most people hospitalized with the virus are unvaccinated and many are under the age of 60.
“This is absolutely heartbreaking what we’re seeing,” said Dr. Jeremy Rogers, director of clinical services at Grandview Medical Center. “It’s tragic. And unfortunately, it’s largely preventable.”
30 years ago, ‘Waiting to Exhale’ was the blockbuster Hollywood didn’t anticipate
The 1995 adaptation of Terry McMillan's novel celebrated the beauty of Black sisterhood.
When porch pirates steal medicine instead of holiday gifts
Mail theft can happen around the holidays, but sometimes, instead of getting a new iPad, the thief swipes a mail order medicine. Here's what to do about it.
Timothée Chalamet, a Neil Diamond tribute band and more in theaters for Christmas
Also in theaters this week, Jack Black and Paul Rudd star in a meta reimagining of Anaconda, Amanda Seyfried in a Shaker origin story, and Ralph Fiennes plays a World War I-era choirmaster.
In the snow, these salamanders get supercool
Blue spotted salamanders have been seen walking across snow and new research suggests how they get by in the cold.
U.S. and Ukraine reach consensus on key issues aimed at ending the war
The United States and Ukraine have reached a consensus on several critical issues, but sensitive issues around territorial control in Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland remain unresolved.
Despite Vatican-Israel tensions, Catholics and Jews work to build trust in Haifa
Religious leaders started getting together after Oct. 7, 2023, in the hope of preventing a repeat of Arab-Jewish violence that erupted after a previous conflict in Gaza two years earlier.
