Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
As Hospital Beds Fill Up, Some Are Closing Doors To Visitors
Health News Florida: Sarasota Memorial Hospital: No Visitors Beginning Monday Due To COVID Surge
Sarasota Memorial Hospital will begin a no-visitor policy on Monday in an effort to protect patients and staff from rising cases of COVID-19. “We know how important visitor support is to our patients, but these new restrictions are for everyone’s protection,” Chief Medical Officer Dr. James Fiorica said Friday. (Glenn, 8/1)
Houston Chronicle: Houston-Area Hospitals Roll Back Visitor Policies, Mull Other Changes Amid Fourth COVID Wave
Local hospitals are limiting visitors and pondering the reinstatement of other peak-pandemic policies amid a new wave of COVID-19 cases. And though no area hospitals have yet limited elective surgeries, there is some concern that hospitals could be overwhelmed by an influx of COVID-19 patients and others who are seeking medical care that was postponed during the height of the pandemic. More than 5,600 Texans are currently hospitalized for COVID, and the state recorded an additional 10,082 confirmed cases on Wednesday — the largest daily counts for both metrics since February, according to a Chronicle analysis of state health data. (Downen, 8/1)
Mississippi Clarion Ledger: UMMC, Other Jackson-Area Hospitals Out Of Beds As COVID-19 Cases Rise
As the delta variant ravages the state, patients are waiting in hallways at Mississippi’s largest hospital as staff scramble to care for the influx of COVID-19 cases requiring hospitalization. All 92 beds in the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s intensive care unit, the state’s largest, are full. The hospital's emergency department is overwhelmed and doctors and nurses are working around the clock to get sick patients into hospital rooms. “There just aren’t enough nurses, physicians and hospital beds to treat the cases this wave is causing,” said Jonathan Wilson, UMMC’s chief administrative officer. (Sanderlin, 7/30)
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Las Vegas Hospitals Filling With COVID Patients – Again
Hospitals across the Las Vegas Valley once again are straining to care for rising numbers of COVID-19 cases, only this time while facing new challenges contributing to record-high patient counts. “The hospitals are very, very busy,” said Mason Van Houweling, CEO of University Medical Center and incoming chair of the Nevada Hospital Association. “Hospitals have seen record, record volumes that they’ve not seen in their history.” (Hynes and Scott Davidson, 7/30)
AP: Missouri Hospital Treats Record Number Of Virus Patients
A Springfield hospital reached a “sad new record” on Sunday when the number of coronavirus patients in its care rose to 187, an administrator said. CoxHealth CEO Steve Edwards urged residents via Twitter to get vaccinated “to protect others, to protect children, to protect our community.” (8/1)
AP: Texas Health Systems Feeling Crunch Of Latest COVID Surge
The resurgence of COVID-19 in Texas has put some cities’ health systems in dire circumstances, as intensive care unit beds fill up, officials say. In Austin, the health department said there were only nine ICU beds available on Friday in the 11-county trauma service region that includes the city and serves 2.3 million people. (8/1)
The New York Times: A New Surge At A Santa Monica I.C.U.
Los Angeles County is recording more than 2,500 new cases daily, and among the unvaccinated, hospitalizations and deaths are mounting. Even in affluent Santa Monica, where about 80 percent of residents are now vaccinated, dozens of people each day are testing positive for the virus, and hospitals like Saint John’s — a 266-bed facility that typically serves the ordinary needs of the beach communities around it — are being inundated again. (Kosofsky and Hubler, 8/1)
AP: Arkansas Doctors, Nurses Pushed To Breaking Point By COVID
Some doctors and nurses in Arkansas say they are dealing with burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder after more than a year of battling the coronavirus pandemic, including a new wave of cases with younger patients. Dr. Kathy Parnell, an internal medicine specialist at Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette she has cried every single day the past week because she is losing young patients. (8/1)
