DHR Health reported they had no ICU beds available as of Thursday, a reflection of the increasing number of COVID-19 hospitalizations that has left hospitals throughout the Rio Grande Valley with dwindling capacity.
While DHR Health reported that none of their 28 ICU beds were available as of Thursday, according to spokesman Marcy Martinez, other hospitals also reported a limited number of beds, according to data reported to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
For the week of Aug. 5, Rio Grande Regional Reported 31 of their 34 inpatient ICU beds were occupied and 161 of their 206 inpatient beds were occupied.
At Mission Regional, 22 of their 26 inpatient ICU beds were occupied during that same week and 138 of their 204 inpatient beds were occupied.
South Texas Health System reported that 90 of their 92 ICU beds were occupied while 470 of their 663 inpatient beds were occupied during the week of Aug. 5.
Since then, the number of patients admitted for COVID-19 to one of STHS’ facilities has grown significantly, according to Chief Nursing Officer Kennetha Foster.
Currently, there are 115 COVID-19 patients at STHS McAllen while there are 47 adult COVID patients and 17 pediatric COVID patients at STHS Edinburg and the Edinburg Children’s Hospital, according to Foster.
DHR Health reported a total of 58 adults currently hospitalized for COVID and two pediatric patients, according to Martinez.
But the HHS data also offer a glimpse into how many COVID cases hospitals have to deal with in a single week.
For the week of Aug. 6, DHR reported a total of 376 patients confirmed or suspected for COVID and 27 pediatric patients confirmed or suspected for COVID.
That represented a 350% jump in adult cases since the first week of July when DHR reported 94 adult confirmed or suspected cases. It was also a 300% jump in pediatric cases since the week of July 2 when they reported 6 such pediatric cases.
At Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco, there were 319 adult cases confirmed or suspected of COVID during the week of Aug. 6 which was a 1,894.% from the week of July 2 when they reported 16 confirmed or suspected cases.
That jump was even higher at Rio Grande Regional Hospital where they reported 344 adult cases confirmed or suspected of COVID during the week of Aug. 6 which was a 2,050% increase from the 16 cases reported the first week of July.
Faced with the drastic increase in cases, Rio Grande Regional stated they are working to balance the care they offer to their COVID-19 patients with the services available to non-COVID patients.
“We are balancing our readiness to care for those with COVID-19, while continuing the needed and timely care of our many other patients,” Adriana Morales, the hospital’s director of marketing and public relations, wrote in a statement.
She noted that the hospital and their 24-hour emergency care centers are open to triage and treat all patients and added that they provide urgent care services via their CareNow affiliation in Edinburg for patients with minor health conditions.
“We are strategically managing the increased volume of patients in a number of ways,” Morales said. “Our facilities are actively engaged in detailed bed utilization planning. This includes the daily review of non-emergent procedures, managing patient bed levels within our network and opening additional units as needed. We are also optimizing our nurse resources and working with our EMT partners and nursing school students, who are able to work with our care teams as nurse extenders.”
As for DHR Health, they opened both of their COVID units, or their serious infectious disease units, in which to place their regular COVID and ICU COVID patients separately.
Hospital officials, however, reiterated that their main concern was not the lack of beds but the shortage of hospital staff.
“We are not concerned about running out (of) beds,” said Martinez, the DHR spokesperson. “The concern is that we don’t have the staffing to open more beds.”
Kathleen Avila, a spokesperson for Prime Healthcare which owns Mission Regional and Knapp Medical Center, echoed that sentiment.
“Valley hospitals have the capability to open additional beds, but more registered nurses (RNs) are needed immediately,” Avila wrote in a statement. “During the surge of 2020, state-sponsored staff were deployed to expand capacity, as the Valley was considered a “hotspot.” The situation today is different because other areas of Texas and most other states have relatively high numbers at the same time. This is making it very difficult for hospitals in the Valley to obtain additional nurses.”
In order to recruit nurses, Avila said Mission Regional, Knapp and Harlingen Medical Center, which is also owned by Prime, are offering a $15,000 sign-on bonus for new RNs in the ICU.
She added that the community can also help by getting vaccinated.
“By getting vaccinated, Valley residents can not only save their own life, but also the life of a family member or friend,” she said.”
She added that vaccines are available seven days a week at RGV Vax, located at 2606 E. Business 83. They can be reached at (956) 520-8660.
They are also available through the city of Weslaco on Tuesday mornings, from 7:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Knapp Conference Center, located on the west side of Knapp Medical Center at 1401 E. 8th St.
DHR Health also offers COVID-19 vaccinations Tuesday through Friday at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance, located at 118 Paseo Del Prado, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
