There are 2,555 'surge' beds in LA County, and they are 11% occupied
“[California Governor Gavin] Newsom’s directive applied to places where fewer than 15% of intensive-care hospital beds remain available, so far affecting Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley. Localities in the San Francisco Bay Area imposed similar orders.”
By Tatiana Prophet
LOS ANGELES — For the second time this year, beaches in the sprawling Los Angeles County show warning signs in blinking lights: “do not gather.” Swing sets are taped up high above parents’ heads. Outdoor dining is banned. Public schools are clearing out their teachers, who had been conducting zoom classes from their classrooms to the children at home. (And yet, unexpectedly, the L.A. County Parks and Recreation web site hasn’t updated its “Trails Closed” alerts since Sept. 9.)
Governor Newsom’s tweet above states that regions in the state that fall below 15 percent ICU capacity will impose stay-at-home orders for three weeks. Los Angeles County has had the brunt of cases, hospitalizations and deaths all year. But it’s being lumped together with other counties inland where existing ICU beds have filled up rapidly. So then why isn’t he telling us about the more than 2,500 beds that are currently not staffed, but are waiting to be brought online in L.A. County?
The numbers are closely guarded, but Back to Facts gained access inadvertently and stumbled on data showing surge beds apparently earmarked for specific hospitals throughout the county. According to numbers obtained from the California Hospital Association, the amount of “surge” beds in Los Angeles County, 2,555, make up the un-staffed beds that could be brought on line by hiring more staff. That total adds more to the existing ICU beds in the entire county, about 2,700, and while the ICUs are roughly 74 percent full, the surge beds are 11 percent full. And some of these hospitals are pretty close to each other in the city, meaning patients could conceivably be transported quickly from either the closest full hospital or elsewhere. All numbers here are as of Nov. 30, 2020.
Californians need to be cautious, but they also need to know that their government is prepared for a spike. It’s understandable that the stay-at-home orders are put in place to prevent hospital ICUs from being overwhelmed. But not all the hospitalizations are Covid-related (roughly 70 percent are not), and the state’s Covid patients are recovering faster with an array of therapies. So why the extreme measures?
The surge beds are not in some of the hardest-hit areas, but in some cases they are very close-by. There are seventeen hospitals that do not have any surge beds available. Quite notable is Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, located in North Hills where the 5 Freeway, the 405 Freeway, and the 118 Freeway form a triangle, between Northridge and San Fernando. Holy Cross has 72 patients either lab confirmed or suspected; 15 on ventilators; 97-percent-full ICU; and 100 percent full for the hospital’s 35 surge beds. This facility has the most negative metrics of any hospital in L.A. County in terms of Covid and capacity.
On the other end of the spectrum, Long Beach Medical Center is 60 percent full in the ICU (this includes Covid and non-Covid, unspecified); it has 241 surge beds that could be made available, and none of them are currently in use. Finally, Long Beach Medical Center has 50 lab confirmed and suspected Covid patients, with 10 of those on ventilators. The city of Long Beach has the highest number of cumulative cases in Los Angeles County, by far. It eclipses all other neighborhoods.
After Holy Cross, the most overwhelmed hospital is LAC + USC Medical Center, located in USC’s Health Sciences Campus and less than half a block from the L.A. County Coroner’s Office. It has the most number of Covid patients among those that are 85 percent full and above. There are 76 Covid patients, 17 on a ventilator, and no surge beds. But the public hospital, one of four in Los Angeles, is on the same campus as Keck Hospital of USC. Keck has 210 surge beds available, 16 Covid patients, 2 on ventilators, and 75 people in intensive care (a majority of them not Covid).
Literally on the same campus.
Yet the articles we’re reading and the tweets we’re seeing from our elected officials are not telling us about these surge beds. Many in New York’s Elmhurst Hospital received poor care for months until a New York health official started matching needs to beds.
OPINION:
Let’s hope that L.A. health officials will move quickly to utilize the roughly 2,200 empty surge beds scattered all over the county. Luckily, many hospitals are clustered together.
Officials locked down the county to slow the spread of infections. But they’re not talking about the still-low death rate in L.A. County, and the just over 5 percent infection rate. People are staying in the hospital for less time, as well. While comorbidities can lessen a person’s chances of recovery, there appear to be a lot more knowledge and options regarding defeating Covid even in those with preexisting conditions.
For example, Los Angeles County’s skilled nursing facilities are beginning to use the regeneron monoclonal cocktail taken by President Trump. The criteria for eligibility are multi-faceted and specific.
“These MAbs [monoclonal antibodies] are approved for the treatment of non-hospitalized patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 (with positive results of direct viral tests for SARS-CoV-2) who are at high risk for progressing to severe disease and/or hospitalization. Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF) have been identified as settings where MAb treatment may be beneficial.
View a fact sheet put out by L.A. County on the monoclonal antibody treatment here.
