The coronavirus surge attributed to the delta variant has caused a rise in hospitalizations locally, but Toledo-area hospitals have maintained sufficient capacity and have not yet reached critical levels of availability, according to health system executives and public health officials.
Toledo-Lucas County Health Commissioner Eric Zgodzinski convened a panel of physicians and infectious disease experts last week to detail trends happening in the county and to warn the public about the surge in cases currently taking place, as the delta variant has accounted for virtually all new reported cases.
Though the surge threatens bed availability should it worsen, hospital executives say they’re still in good shape to handle capacity of both coronavirus and non-coronavirus patients. But volumes are increasing, they warn.
“We’re managing our bed capacity just fine right now,” said Dr. Michael Ellis, the chief medical officer of the University of Toledo Medical Center. “Obviously we’ve seen an increase in COVID, but this is not our first COVID wave and I think we are pretty well prepared at this point.”
ProMedica hospitals in the metro Toledo area are pretty full, averaging around 75 percent capacity, according to Paula Grieb, vice president of patient care services and the chief nursing officer of the health system’s local hospitals. No patients have been turned away yet, despite the added strains on staff and increases in patient volume.
“Are we very, very busy? Yes, we are,” she said. “Are we looking at much higher capacities than what we usually have across our metro region hospitals? Yes.
“We have never had to turn a patient away, we’ve always been able to find placement for them,” she continued.
Spokesmen Erica Blake, of Mercy Health, and Ginger Petrat, of McLaren St. Luke’s Hospital, also said they haven’t reached concerning levels of capacity despite increases in cases and hospitalizations.
“The inpatient census at McLaren St. Luke’s has been a little higher than average recently, but we are not at capacity,” Ms. Petrat said in a statement. “We still have bed availability for patients who need to be admitted, and we urge people not to wait for medical care or treatment in the event of an emergency.”
According to data from the Ohio Hospital Association, Lucas County coronavirus-related hospitalizations jumped from 26 in late July to 100 as of Wednesday. Area hospitals have a combined 319 medical/surgical beds available and 342 intensive-care beds. Of the 211 ICU beds filled on Wednesday, only 26 are for coronavirus patients.
According to the data, ProMedica Toledo Hospital had 125 available staffed medical/surgical beds, while UTMC — the former Medical College of Ohio Hospital — had 31, Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center had four, and St. Luke’s three. Officials say those numbers change quickly, however, and each has put contingency plans in place should capacity reach concerning levels.
Though hospitals had to turn away patients with non-coronavirus illnesses last year — particularly by postponing elective surgeries — this year is much different, Ms. Grieb emphasized.
Hospitals are stressed, she said, but they’ve adapted and are prepared to take in influxes of patients as waves and strains of the virus come and go. The increase in patients isn’t just coronavirus patients either, she said.
“We’re seeing increased volumes in everything,” she said. “People with heart issues, heart attacks, strokes — pick the diagnosis or symptom, and we’re seeing an increase in those numbers. We want to be sure that folks understand that we can and will take care of them and that they please do not defer their health care. We’re concerned that that’s part of what we’re seeing today.”
Dr. Ellis agreed, underscoring that hospitals always prepare for the worst-case scenario and the elongated pandemic has allowed them the ability to adapt to rapidly-changing scenarios.
“We’re still doing elective surgeries, we’re still taking care of patients here, and we’re managing our capacity well,” he said.
But as hospitals juggle their capacities, public health officials and activists are still trying to get more people vaccinated so they don’t wind up there in the first place.
A study released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed unvaccinated people are five times more likely to catch the virus than vaccinated individuals and are 29 times more likely to be hospitalized. It’s the latest statistic presenting evidence of the vaccines’ efficacy.
Earlier this month, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced at a news conference that more than 98 percent of Ohio’s coronavirus hospitalizations since January have involved unvaccinated individuals.
"No fact better illustrates how powerful the vaccines are then by looking at the people who have been in our hospitals for COVID since January 1 of this year, when the vaccine first really started to have a big impact," he said at the time.
First Published August 25, 2021, 10:26 p.m.
