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News Articles: hospital capacity

Nurse Elisa Gilbert checks on a patient in the acute care COVID-19 unit at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle on Jan. 21. The highly transmissible omicron variant of the coronavirus is putting a significant strain on health systems nationally, resulting in staffing shortages and changes in capacity strategies.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Americans get sicker as omicron stalls everything from heart surgeries to cancer care

Slammed by COVID-19, many U.S. hospitals have put off essential procedures. Delays are leading to consequences like heart attacks and sending people to emergency rooms to get care.

February 04, 2022
|
By:
  • Will Stone
Signs for flu and COVID vaccines

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Regular Flu Season Looms As Wildcard As Georgia Hospitals Strain To Treat COVID Patients

October marks the start of the annual flu season, which typically worsens as the mercury drops before ending around May. And with Georgia hospitals still packed with COVID-19 patients, a bad flu season could mean even more strain on already stressed health workers.

September 20, 2021
|
By:
  • Ross Williams
Shift change at Macon hospital

Tagged as: 

  • Health Care

COVID Surge Eases Slightly, But Swamped Hospitals See No Relief

The state’s Covid cases and hospitalizations have dipped over the past week, Georgia health officials have reported. But that drop isn’t relieving the pressure on the front lines of hospitals — both smaller facilities and large urban centers.

September 17, 2021
|
By:
  • Andy Miller

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Many Hospitals Are Still Overwhelmed By COVID-19 Patients. Is Yours?

COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to strain U.S. hospitals. NPR built a tool to explore trends around the country. Look up your local hospital to see how it's faring.

March 15, 2021
|
By:
  • Sean McMinn,
  • Audrey Carlsen,
  • and 1 more
The Georgia World Congress Center is one of America's Best Convention Centers

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Georgia World Congress Center To Reopen For Patients As State Breaks COVID-19 Case Record

The Georgia World Congress Center will have an additional 60 beds as early as next week to help relieve overwhelmed hospitals, Gov. Brian Kemp said. Operations are expected to continue through the month of January as hospital staff continue to receive COVID-19 vaccinations from Pfizer and Moderna.

December 23, 2020
|
By:
  • Ellen Eldridge
Ambulances fill the loading area at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The hospital has tried to adjust to the surge of new infections by dedicating three floors for treatment of COVID-19 patients, and creating two COVID-only intensive care units for the most seriously ill. Still, the hospital has had to deny patient-transfer requests from smaller hospitals.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Tennessee Hospitals Are Disturbingly Close To Their Breaking Point

Many U.S. hospitals are struggling to find enough space and staff to treat COVID-19 patients. The surge in new cases has forced them to rethink how they use space, manage staff, and handle treatment.

December 22, 2020
|
By:
  • Blake Farmer
Medical staff prepare for an intubation procedure on a COVID-19 patient in a Houston intensive care unit. In some parts of the U.S., as hospitals get crowded, hospital leaders are worried they may need to implement crisis standards of care.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Near Crisis, Some Hospitals Face Tough Decisions In Caring For Floods Of Patients

Hospitals are getting so crowded with COVID-19 patients that they're having to resort to workarounds to treat them all. Experts warn this may hamper doctors' ability to save lives.

November 25, 2020
|
By:
  • Will Stone and
  • Sean McMinn
Rural communities across the country, places largely spared during the early days of the pandemic, are now seeing spikes in infections and hospitalizations.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

COVID-19 Surges In Rural Communities, Overwhelming Some Local Hospitals

As COVID-19 cases increase, many rural communities, places which were largely spared during the early months of the pandemic, are now contending with a spike in infections and hospitalizations.

October 22, 2020
|
By:
  • Will Stone
emergency hospital photo

Tagged as: 

  • Health Care

‘No End In Sight’ For Pandemic: A Morgue Full. Emergency Room Swamped. Hospitals Stretched To Limit

Doctors at one metro Atlanta hospital were greeted with a grim message on a whiteboard: “Morgue full.” Medics in southeast Georgia tended to sick patients in ambulances for 30 minutes to an hour in hopes a hospital bed would become free. An emergency room in middle Georgia overflowed so much stretchers lined the walls.

July 31, 2020
|
By:
  • Wayne Drash
Patients can get COVID-19 diagnostic and antibody tests at a converted vehicle inspection station in San Antonio, as the state reports a record number of hospitalizations and single-day case increases.

Tagged as: 

  • National

Texas Sets State Record With More Than 10,000 New Coronavirus Cases Reported Tuesday

Texas recorded 10,028 new cases, surpassing its previous single-day increase as statewide hospitalizations also set new records.

July 07, 2020
|
By:
  • Rachel Treisman

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