Local Hospitals At Full Capacity Due to Flu, COVID-19
North Memorial Health Hospital and Maple Grove Hospital are at total capacity because of the flu season and COVID-19, officials said. Staff members say they are wondering what will happen after the holidays.
“We’re poised in Minnesota to have the most COVID patients we’ve ever had since the beginning of the pandemic,” said North Memorial Health CEO Dr. Kevin Croston in a video message released earlier this week. “That’s a recipe for disaster. We only have so much for resources, and it’s dwindling.”
Dr. Croston also said the emergency rooms and urgent care facilities are full with longer wait times than usual. Some patients have to wait days to get a hospital bed, he said. And Croston says the intensive care units are full as well as the medical and surgical floors.
Doctors and nurses have been dealing with the impact of COVID-19 since March 2020. Croston says staff are feeling burnout.
“We’re losing people because they’re so fatigued. Our nurses in some respects are seeing people die every day in the ICU, and it’s taking an emotional toll on our staff,” he said.
Croston and hospital officials are asking for the public’s help in reducing the risk of COVID hospitalizations by getting vaccinated, wearing a mask in public spaces and reducing time in group settings.
North Memorial Health and Maple Grove Hospitals at capacity.
See also: Rising COVID Numbers Put North Memorial, Maple Grove Hospital at Capacity
