At least three hospitals in the Cincinnati region have requested emergency medical services divert patients elsewhere over the past 24 hours as a sharp increase in flu hospitalizations has stressed the system.
Bon Secours Mercy Health's Jewish Hospital and UC Health's University of Cincinnati Medical Center and West Chester Hospital have informed EMS they are "at capacity" as a courtesy to technicians, who can then reroute patients to the next closest hospital if possible, The Enquirer confirmed.
The hospitals are not turning down patients, however, and if a patient specifically requests to go to any of the hospitals deemed at capacity, that wish will be granted. The medical center in Corryville, the region's only adult Level 1 trauma center, also will continue to take trauma, burn, and stroke patients, UC Health spokeswoman Amanda Nageleisen confirmed.
The capacity issues come as flu hospitalizations rose by 73% over the weekend, from 83 on Friday to 144 Monday. The increase in flu activity combined with COVID-19, end-of-the-year surgeries, and respiratory illnesses from post-Thanksgiving gatherings, has put enough stress on the system to warrant the diversions, said Tiffany Mattingly, vice president of clinical strategies for the Health Collaborative, the coordinating group for the region's 40 hospitals.
Because of a number of factors, hospitals may cycle in and out of being "at capacity" every few hours, presenting a fluid situation.
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"It's been in the last 18 hours or so that they're starting to run at capacity," Mattingly said. "When so many patients come into the emergency department, they need time to decompress. Which means they have to get patients out of the inpatient side of the house, discharged, post-acute, wherever they're going, get those rooms cleaned over and then get patients from the (emergency department) into those rooms. So it's kind of a constant churn."
The situation isn't unmanageable however, Mattingly said. And under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which passed in 1986, hospitals can't turn patients away.
"A hospital has to take a patient if they come through their doors," Mattingly said. "But they designate themselves 'at-capacity' to inform EMS to bypass that hospital for the next closest hospital."
As of last Tuesday, 94% of the Cincinnati region's intensive care unit beds were full, while 99% of medical surgical beds were filled.
"There's a lot of end-of-the-year procedures happening, which will fill up the beds," Mattingly said. "So, you're going to have this influx of end-of-the-year procedures as well as the increase in all the respiratory activity."
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