Hospitals have faced growing numbers of inpatient care since the start of the pandemic, and as spikes continue across the country, available beds are again becoming scarce. But as the pandemic is spreading at different rates across the country, how can you know if your local hospital in particular is overwhelmed? An NPR special series called Coronavirus By The Numbers sought to help by partnering with the University of Minnesota’s COVID-19 Hospitalization Tracking Project to make an easy tool for searching the occupancy rate of hospitals in your area, allowing several ways to track coronavirus-related data.
Search average daily capacity by county
You know how when you go to a parking garage, it can tell you how many spots are taken? This tool helps you see exactly how many beds are occupied at your local hospital, including beds specifically for COVID-19 patients.
On NPR’s site, you can type in your city or town, and a dropdown will indicate the proper county. Once selected, a chart will appear showing a list of nearby hospitals and the percentage of beds used. The first column highlights beds used for COVID-19 patients, and additional columns list the daily average of COVID-19 in-patients and the overall number of beds occupied within that hospital.
For example, at my local hospital—Jacobi hospital in The Bronx—currently two percent of the occupied beds are being used for COVID-19 patients, with 18 average COVID-19 patients a day.
G/O Media may get a commission
If the percentage of used beds for COVID-19 patients raises over ten percent, this poses a concern the staff and resources at that facility may be stretched thin. Over twenty percent capacity means the hospital is struggling to provide the necessary care. Anything over fifty percent, the hospital is overwhelmed and the ability to treat ailments outside of COVID-19 will be delayed.
Should you go to the hospital?
Being hospitalized can be a traumatic experience in normal times, let alone during a pandemic. Hospitals take precautions to separate COVID-19 patients though, so if you need to go to the medical attention, you shouldn’t skip going to the hospital for fear of exposure.
Hospitals like John Hopkins list safety precautions directly on their site:
Depending on the urgency of the patient’s medical needs, everyone entering the emergency department is immediately screened for symptoms of COVID-19. Our emergency departments isolate patients who may have COVID-19 or other infections from those with other emergent problems. The emergency staff wears personal protective equipment and places patients who may have COVID-19 in specially designated private rooms to ensure infections are not spread from person to person. Each patient room is fully cleaned and disinfected after each patient leaves.
NPR and the COVID-19 Hospitalization Tracking Project provide these tools so the data becomes less frightening, and you can safely get treated should you need hospitalization.
