Local hospitals prepare for surge in coronavirus patients

SEATTLE — Local hospitals are preparing for a surge in COVID-19 patients as new research from Harvard shows Seattle area hospitals, faced with a lack of available beds, will need to expand capacity to avoid being overwhelmed by an influx in new cases.

On Tuesday, Gov. Jay Inslee signed a group of bills that included allocating money to create more hospital capacity to counter the increasing strain on Washington’s health care system from coronavirus cases.

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Hospitals in Italy were overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases, which led to a shortage of hospital beds, doctors and medical supplies. That meant the care of some patients was prioritized over others.

Erika Henry, with the Washington State Department of Health, said the state has an estimated 12,000 hospital beds but told reporters in a conference call Tuesday that they shouldn’t focus on the numbers.

"It doesn't help that community if they can't then get the staff or the resources to support care in those beds,” said Henry, who described rapidly discharging some patients and turning to retired doctors as measures to help address added strain to the health care system.

Health experts say “flattening the curve” is important in preventing hospitals from being overwhelmed. That means taking steps, like social distancing measures already enacted in Washington, to slow the spread of the virus so fewer patients show up to hospitals at once.

"Even though it's going to prolong the outbreak, it's actually going to speed up the rate in which we can come back to normal,” said Northeastern University researcher Samuel Scarpino.

Susan Gregg, a spokesperson for UW Medicine, that includes Harborview Medical Center, said there are about 1,550 licensed beds across that hospital system, which is already “very busy and full.”

Gregg said each UW Medicine hospital has a surge capacity plan in place that is being adapted to address the COVID-19 outbreak and released this statement:

“We are learning daily how this outbreak has affected other countries and are monitoring local, state and federal recommendations to help inform our planning. We have operationalized incident command centers at each of our hospitals as well as an overarching UW Medicine command center to ensure that our entities are aligned, sharing resources and supporting one another.

Our daily planning sessions monitor our available beds, supply usage and human resources. We are working closely with the Northwest Hospital Resource Network whose role is to ensure that the healthcare needs of the community are met during a disaster such as this coronavirus outbreak.”

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