Some SoCal hospitals are already at full capacity amid COVID-19 surge

LOS ANGELES (KABC) – Hospitalizations in California are on the rise, raising concerns about how hospitals will handle the expected crush, as some are already at full capacity.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 forecast calls for a hospital nightmare just in time for Christmas Eve.

Newsom said if the current trend continues, ICU beds are expected to be at 112% capacity by mid-December.

In Southern California, ICU capacity is expected to reach 107% and some hospitals are already at full capacity.

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“At our two medical centers, 100% of our beds are used,” said Dr Alp Arkun, deputy medical director of Kaiser Permanente San Bernardino, which operates hospitals in Fontana and Ontario.

Facilities there have seen a 220% increase in COVID-19 patients over the past four weeks.

But even if every bed is filled there, Arkun says hospitals are willing to double patients in rooms if they have to.

“We are looking at every lever, every possibility, every nook and cranny used to the maximum, leveraging our entire system from all of our medical centers in Southern California to maintain safe and quality patient care.” , said Arkun.

Hospitals across Southern California are bracing and bracing for even worse numbers in this peak vacation. In Los Angeles County, the number of hospitalizations is increasing, with 2,316 people now hospitalized for COVID-19, and about a quarter of those in intensive care.

The Southern California Hospital Association told Eyewitness News on Tuesday that it currently has sufficient hospital bed capacity in most of its hospitals, but “occupancy varies by county – and even within a same county – hospitals suffer disparate impacts. “

“This pandemic is on the rise again and its spread is expected to be worse than ever at a time when supplies remain difficult to find,” a statement from the association said in part.

“We are currently overcapacity in the ICU, so we are spilling over to another area of ​​the hospital,” said Dr. Bernard Klein, executive director of Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.

Klein calls the COVID-19 peak a super flare, and over the holiday weekend, his hospital was forced to turn away patients.

“We have so many high acuity patients, both on the floor and in the emergency room, that we wanted to make sure we could care for them safely,” Klein said.

Early treatment is essential to prevent hospital overload. Experts warn those who wait too long to seek treatment have the hardest time beating COVID-19 and spend more time in hospital.