Houston Methodist Woodlands Hospital Says ERs Are At ‘Critical Capacity’ Amid COVID Outbreak

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) – As hospital emergency rooms face capacity issues and limited bed space, an email titled ‘Critical’ sent by Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital paints a picture grim about what medical staff are going through amid rising COVID-19 cases.

In an internal email sent to employees on Friday, the hospital said it had 90 patients in its 20-bed emergency department with more than 50 people waiting for a bed.

“We need and ask that all medical staff come together to help,” read the email obtained by ABC13.

The hospital requests that staff see all inpatient visits within two hours of a referral.

The video above is from an August 5 report released by ABC13 on worrying wait times and staff shortages amid the COVID outbreak in Houston.

“If additional tests and / or treatment are needed that are not urgently related to the current admission, please arrange for them to be performed after discharge on an outpatient basis,” reads the article. -mail.

The Houston Methodist Hospital told ABC13 on Thursday that staff needed to treat patients in hallways and waiting rooms.

Meanwhile, Harris Health System said the LBJ Hospital has been operating under an “internal disaster” code on an intermittent basis since Sunday.

READ ALSO: Houston Methodist ER Running at Full Capacity Amid COVID Outbreak: ‘Highest I’ve Ever Seen’

The code means its emergency department is so saturated with critically ill patients that ambulances are being hijacked.

“We are seeing a much more serious situation, even compared to last year, and the past year has been devastating for so many people and so many hospitals,” said Matthew Schlueter, chief ambulatory care nurse at the Harris Health System. “We are well above our comfortable capacity.”

Schlueter said that with almost no bed availability this is a high pressure situation.

“At the moment, if you are not at death’s door with the most critical situation… it is very likely that you will have to wait in our waiting room,” he said.

Additionally, Schlueter said wait times are skyrocketing.

“To get a bed, it could take up to 24 hours right now,” he said.

READ MORE: 11-month-old child with COVID sent to hospital 150 miles away due to lack of bed space in Houston