Tag: Hospitals

Let’s Not Kid Ourselves About Acute Care Bed Supply

marciarillegmailcomLeave a comment

Some parts of the country, I’m looking at you Northern California, have so effectively squeezed all excess acute care bed capacity out of the system pre-Covid-19, that I don’t know what the New York Times could possibly mean:

Hospitals across the country are operating near or above capacity … With so many hospitals facing the same problems, the elasticity in the health care system is gone, and medical workers are being run ragged.

What elasticity? “Hospital Realignment” (a.k.a.merger activity) has long been praised for its ability to squeeze excess capacity out of the system.

Be careful what you ask for. You may get it.

Hospitals as Covid-19 Disease Vectors

Ann Marie MarciarilleLeave a comment

"For example, we are learning that hospitals might be the main Covid-19 carriers, as they are rapidly populated by infected patients, facilitating transmission to uninfected patients. Patients are transported by our regional system,1 which also contributes to spreading the disease as its ambulances and personnel rapidly become vectors. Health workers are asymptomatic carriers or sick without surveillance; some might die, including young people, which increases the stress of those on the front line."

From a recent journal article by practitioners in and near Bergamot, Italy.