US coronavirus: Hospitalization rates are down across the US, but these 8 states still have fewer than 15% of ICU beds available

[iamwhatiseem]

I live on the Oregon Coast now. Happen to like my docs here & the health care system in general. Also a good excuse to visit my daughter and a few old friends.

So Boston is masks optional now? That’s a bit surprising.

Btw, if I’m out running errands in OR and only have a few blocks between stops, I’ll just leave mine on. In general, yes it’s stupid to wear a mask alone in your car if that’s not the case.

Mask free in Indiana since April.
And our numbers are no worse than yours.

 

[DrLove]

Speaking on strict anonymity... here.. insiders (nurses and therapist) are saying their hospitals are admitting Covid patients who are not that sick. When numbers were high, only truly sick people were admitted. Now, with dwindling numbers and not-so-sick people... hospitals are milking the Covid gravy train (all expenses paid) by admitting people who have only minor symptoms.

That’s just silly to accuse hospitals of such my friend. Reminds me a little of the accusations that hospitals are recording all deaths as COVID so they can make more money.

 

[DrLove]

Mask free in Indiana since April.
And our numbers are no worse than yours.

I’m an Oregonian now. Your numbers are worse.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I’m an Oregonian now. Your numbers are worse.

No, not meaningfully

 

[EvilEyeFleegle]

What percentage of ICU vacancies is "normal" pre-covid?

A 15% vacancy seems like a fair number.

I agree..from what I've heard. Here's the rub....say pre-covid, an ICU is running at about 90% with the usual patients-heart attacks, strokes, auto accidents, etc.
Now, enter Covid--Now the ICU is 95% full--with two-thirds or more Covid patients--so where do the usual litany of Heart attack victims, auto accident patients, etc. go for their emergent medical care? Who is getting turned away? Who is having to drive an extra hundred miles to get care...and how many are dying along the way?
The Covid patients are in addition to the usual demand for emergent services.

 

[EvilEyeFleegle]

That’s just silly to accuse hospitals of such my friend. Reminds me a little of the accusations that hospitals are recording all deaths as COVID so they can make more money.

HUSH~ About half this board believe the above is gospel truth~

 

[AzogtheDefiler]

I live on the Oregon Coast now. Happen to like my docs here & the health care system in general. Also a good excuse to visit my daughter and a few old friends.

So Boston is masks optional now? That’s a bit surprising.

Btw, if I’m out running errands in OR and only have a few blocks between stops, I’ll just leave mine on. In general, yes it’s stupid to wear a mask alone in your car if that’s not the case.

It goes town by town. Cambridge is mandatory. Again, its stupid. I had the virus and I am vaccinated. So why am I forced to wear a mask? Follow the science....

 

[DrLove]

No, not meaningfully

Yes meaningfully. You have double the number of new cases per 100.000 as Oregon, which is 5th fewest.

U.S. states with the highest COVID rates 2023 | Statista

As of Mar. 2023, two U.S. states had COVID rates higher than 42 cases per 100 population. Maryland had the lowest rate of cases.

www.statista.com

 

[AzogtheDefiler]

HUSH~ About half this board believe the above is gospel truth~

Hospitals want ICU utilization at ~90% at all times. That is how they make money. Period.

Thread is nonsensical.

 

[EvilEyeFleegle]

Hospitals want ICU utilization at ~90% at all times. That is how they make money. Period.

Thread is nonsensical.

Well...so YOU say~

That is not 'how they make money..period' Elective surgeries are the bread and butter of Hospitals.
Yes, Hospital admins want a high rate of occupancy...which they usually get..humans being what we are.
But the covid patients are in addition too, not in place of, the normal flow..so someone is getting screwed..waiting too long or being turned away.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Yes meaningfully. You have double the number of new cases per 100.000 as Oregon, which is 5th fewest.

U.S. states with the highest COVID rates 2023 | Statista

As of Mar. 2023, two U.S. states had COVID rates higher than 42 cases per 100 population. Maryland had the lowest rate of cases.

www.statista.com

Haha... your funny.
Oregon has some of the lowest population densities in America at 39 per sq. mil.
Indiana is also low, but it 186 per sq. mile.
In the city areas, Oregon is no better covid wise, and actually worse than others.

 

[DrLove]

Hospitals want ICU utilization at ~90% at all times. That is how they make money. Period.

Thread is nonsensical.

That sounds pretty fanciful - Linkage?

 

[AzogtheDefiler]

Well...so YOU say~

That is not 'how they make money..period' Elective surgeries are the bread and butter of Hospitals.
Yes, Hospital admins want a high rate of occupancy...which they usually get..humans being what we are.
But the covid patients are in addition too, not in place of, the normal flow..so someone is getting screwed..waiting too long or being turned away.

They have other sources of revenue of course but one of the primary ones is ICU beds. Nope, you are wrong again. Talk to a doctor. They move patients out of ICU if they are at capacity. If a train crash occurs then those patients get priority while those with COVID-19 sniffles wait or are admitted.

 

[AzogtheDefiler]

That sounds pretty fanciful - Linkage?

That is like asking me to link that Paul Piece played for the Celtics. Call any BOD member at any hospital and ask them. In general utilization rate is how many businesses are gauged when they are service businesses it is Business and Finance 101. How do you not know this? Aren't you in the business and finance industry?

 

[DrLove]

Haha... your funny.
Oregon has some of the lowest population densities in America at 39 per sq. mil.
Indiana is also low, but it 186 per sq. mile.
In the city areas, Oregon is no better covid wise, and actually worse than others.

Do you understand that these numbers have nothing to do with population? Population density per square mile has nothing to do with it either. Portland metro holds well over half the population in the entire state. It’s as densely populated as about any large US city - NYC the possible exception. It is new cases per 100,000. So our current problems are half of what yours are. Sheesh - statistics are obviously not your friend.

 

[odanny]

Not on that list Alaska, which is almost out of any empty beds in their ICU's, due to the Delta variant finally spreading rapidly amongst the smaller communities in the interior.

 

[DrLove]

That is like asking me to link that Paul Piece played for the Celtics. Call any BOD member at any hospital and ask them. In general utilization rate is how many businesses are gauged when they are service businesses it is Business and Finance 101. How do you not know this? Aren't you in the business and finance industry?

No I need ER bed statistics from say 2010 to present.
Pre COVID they were NOT 90% full. And that’s a guarantee.

 

[EvilEyeFleegle]

They have other sources of revenue of course but one of the primary ones is ICU beds. Nope, you are wrong again. Talk to a doctor. They move patients out of ICU if they are at capacity. If a train crash occurs then those patients get priority while those with COVID-19 sniffles wait or are admitted.

Well..I took your advice..sort of. My daughter is a charge nurse at Kootenai Medical Center--I gave her a call, in fact, she's still on the line. She laughed at the thought of kicking patients out of ICU to make room for more emergent patients. She mentioned that hospital admins hate lawsuits..so that's a non-starter. Kootenai has been slammed by covid..their solution was to open up three conference rooms and turn them into covid wards. But once a patient is intubated and on a ventilator..ICU is the place.
As for all those others patients..she relates that KMC has been notifying all ambulance companies to take patients to Sacred Heart or Deaconess in Spokane. Patients have been transferred to Spokane..if they are stable. All elective procedures have been cancelled at KMC..and the hospital is effectively full--there are a few ICU beds open and being held as an emergency reserve. Right now, you have to be damn sick to be admitted..no 'Covid sniffles' need apply..that's a quote...LOL!

 

[Desperado]

I wonder..what do these states have in common, eh?

MSN

While much of the US is seeing a decline in hospitalizations for Covid-19, it's also evident the fight against the pandemic is far from over as eight states are reporting limited numbers of available ICU beds.
Texas, Idaho, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arkansas and North Carolina have 15% or less of their ICU capacity available to patients, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Dwindling capacity from Covid-19 has led to many hospitals strained for resources and staffing, often leaving them unable to provide the standard of care they would like, according to health care professionals.
On average over the last week, Covid-19 hospitalizations have declined by more than 1,400 a day, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Whether the change is temporary or the beginning of the end is still not clear

Because of blod clot patients, stroke and heart attack patients taking up the beds after taking the vaccine

 

[EvilEyeFleegle]

Because of blod clot patients, stroke and heart attack patients taking up the beds after taking the vaccine

Damn....that's pretty damn stupid..don't suppose you have a reputable link..to back that garbage up with, do you?