MILWAUKEE – Less than three-percent of all ICU beds in Wisconsin were available on Tuesday amid an influx in the number of patients suffering from COVID-19 and/or influenza.
Dr. Ben Weston, the top health policy officer for Milwaukee County, said that a large number of beds are being used to treat COVID patients.
“[Monday], we saw a new 2021 record for COVID hospitalizations in [Milwaukee] County. 299 people. That’s nearly 40 more people hospitalized with COVID over the weekend,” Dr. Weston said on Tuesday.
“I think we’re at a critical time for our hospitals,” Dr. Ben Weston said. “When entire regions of our state have single digits… and we’re not talking nine or ten. We’re talking zero, one or two.”
Dr. Weston said the low number of available beds can affect people who aren’t suffering from COVID-19 but still need critical care.
“The entire Fox Valley has two ICU beds available. I mean, think of all the people that live in the Fox Valley, and there’s two beds for people who have those critical sort of needs.”
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— Ben Weston, MD, MPH (@BenWWeston) December 7, 2021
And to be clear, our cases and hospitalizations are not slowing or leveling. They are accelerating and increasing.
If you have been on the fence, now is the time to get off ➡️ #GetVaccinated https://t.co/AsKXCKS8iH
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said that a recent rise in the number of influenza patients is also contributing to the hospital bed shortage.
“There was a significant increase in influenza related hospitalizations in Milwaukee just last week,” Barrett said on Tuesday.
According to the Wisconsin Hospital Association, there were just 37 ICU beds available on Tuesday afternoon, out of 1,331 total beds.
That’s about 2.8% of ICU beds available in Wisconsin.
.@thedacare CEO Dr. Imran Andrabi said capacity is “not looking good” for his health system or any other across the state. ICUs are full.
— WI Health News (@WiHealthNews) December 7, 2021
Dr. Susan Turney, CEO of Marshfield Clinic Health System, said on Tuesday that other patients are once again seeing their care delayed because of the influx in COVID patients.
“We are now again delaying procedures, delaying screening and other types of care, because we just don’t have the capacity,” Dr. Turney said.
.@Froedtert Hospital President Eric Conley: “We are full. Period.”
— WI Health News (@WiHealthNews) December 7, 2021
There were 1,630 people being treated for COVID-19 in Wisconsin hospitals on Tuesday, according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association.
That’s an increase of 212 in the last seven days.
