COVID-19 hospitalization increase in Stanislaus, other counties triggers state action
State surge protocols were triggered Friday for hospitals in the San Joaquin Valley region after intensive care unit capacity fell below 10 percent amid the COVID-19 surge.
The 12-county region is the first to trigger a California Department of Public Health order designed so the health care system can handle the influx of patients suffering from life-threatening cases of COVID-19 illness.
The hospital protocols are now in effect in Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Merced, San Benito, Madera, Mariposa, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Kern counties.
Hospitals that have ICU beds available are expected to accept patients from other counties “when clinically appropriate” and directed by a health operations area coordinator, according to CDPH.
According to the protocols, if the ICU bed capacity is completely exhausted in the region, other hospitals in California must accept patients transferred from the San Joaquin Valley counties. The CDPH considers the ability of hospitals to provide nursing staff for intensive care units in measuring the capacity.
Medical centers in Stanislaus County have cared for an increasing number of COVID-infected patients who require hospitalization or critical care. The hospitals also are seeing people with general medical issues and patients displaced by wildfires.
In an update Friday, the county Health Services Agency reported that 314 patients with confirmed COVID infections are in local hospitals, up from 278 a week ago. A county dashboard showed that intensive care unit admissions grew from 55 last week to 70 on Friday.
According to a state dashboard, the county had 15 ICU beds available.
To trigger the surge protocols, a region must be below 10 percent ICU capacity for three straight days. State health officials will reevaluate the hospital capacity issues in the San Joaquin Valley region Thursday.
This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 4:39 PM.
