Critical Bed Shortages In U.S. Hospitals

The Hill: ICU Beds Running Critically Short As COVID-19 Cases Surge 
More than 1 in 3 U.S. residents live in a locality where hospitals are nearing their limit for intensive care beds as coronavirus cases continue to surge, The New York Times reports, citing federal data. A Times analysis found that hospitals that serve communities of more than 100 million people had fewer than 15 percent of their intensive care beds available last week. Ten percent of U.S. residents live in areas where such beds are either completely occupied or at least 95 percent occupied, with the shortages concentrated in the south, the southwest and the Midwest. (Budryk, 12/9)

Los Angeles Times: Some ICUs At California Hospitals Are Completely Full: 'It Is The Worst We Have Seen'
Some California counties on Tuesday saw intensive care units hit full capacity, and others were getting close to that level as COVID-19 cases continued to surge. At least three counties in the San Joaquin Valley have reached 0% capacity in their hospitals’ intensive care units, making the state’s agricultural hub the first area in California to become maxed out. In Santa Clara County, meanwhile, conditions are deteriorating rapidly. Officials said there are only 31 ICU beds remaining — less than 10% of the county’s capacity — and that a few hospitals have run out completely. (Pinho, Lin II and Money, 12/8)

North Carolina Health News: NC Hospitals Could Fill ICUs By January 
On Oct. 7, the Greensboro-based Cone Health system had 57 COVID-19 patients across their small network of hospitals. A month later that number had almost doubled. A month after that, it was up to a total of 167. And the numbers keep climbing. “We’re doing this to ourselves,” Bruce Swords, the system’s chief medical executive, told his colleagues. (Engel-Smith and Hoban, 12/10)

AP: Indiana Reinstating Surgery Limits Amid COVID-19 Surge
Indiana’s hospitals will have to postpone elective surgeries starting next week under an order the state’s governor said Wednesday was needed to free up hospital capacity amid steep recent increases in serious COVID-19 illnesses. An initial shipment of some 55,000 doses of the first coronavirus vaccine is expected to arrive at Indiana hospitals next week as front-line health care workers start to receive shots. (Davies, 12/9)

Also —

Los Angeles Times: California Has Most Coronavirus Deaths In A Single Day
More Californians died of COVID-19 on Tuesday than any other day, the latest milestone in an accelerating pandemic that is infecting and hospitalizing residents at levels far eclipsing any seen before. Tuesday’s death toll, 219, edged out the previous single-day high of 214, which was recorded July 31, according to data compiled by The Times. The latest figure may be a harbinger of higher death tolls. Until this past week, California had topped 200 daily coronavirus-related deaths only two times. That number has been exceeded twice in the last five days. (Money and Lin II, 12/9)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: U.S. Army Medical Staff Being Deployed To Overwhelmed Wisconsin Hospitals
Nearly four dozen U.S. Army medical workers are being deployed to Wisconsin to help out hospitals and health care workers stressed and exhausted by the continued surge of COVID-19 patients in the area. The Army personnel will work in medical centers in Beaver Dam, Eau Claire, Marshfield and Rice Lake. (Beck, 12/9)

Indianapolis Star: Why Gov. Eric Holcomb Says 'The State Of Indiana Is On Fire' With COVID-19
Gov. Eric Holcomb said Indiana's COVID-19 numbers are putting the state in a place "we never want to be." "When you talk about counties being red, the state of Indiana is on fire," Holcomb said Wednesday during his weekly news conference. All of Indiana's 92 counties are categorized as having moderate to high community spread of COVID-19, placing them in the state's orange and red categories, respectively. (Gerike, 12/9)

The New York Times: ‘Small Town, No Hospital’: Covid-19 Is Overwhelming Rural West Texas 
It is one of the fastest-growing coronavirus hot spots in the nation, but there are no long lines of cars piled up for drive-through testing and no rush of appointments to get swabbed at CVS. That’s because in the rugged, rural expanse of far West Texas, there is no county health department to conduct daily testing, and no CVS store for more than 100 miles. A handful of clinics offer testing to those who are able to make an appointment. (Mervosh, 12/9)

KHN: A Battle-Weary Seattle Hospital Fights The Latest COVID Surge 
As hospitals across the country weather a surge of COVID-19 patients, in Seattle — an early epicenter of the outbreak — nurses, respiratory therapists and physicians are staring down a startling resurgence of the coronavirus that’s expected to test even one of the best-prepared hospitals on the pandemic’s front lines. After nine months, the staff at Harborview Medical Center, the large public hospital run by the University of Washington, has the benefit of experience. (Stone, 12/10)