Ochsner Health delayed 1,160 surgeries/med procedures over last week - beds full with COVID patients

Ochsner Health has delayed 1,160 surgeries and medical procedures over the last week because hospital beds are full with COVID-19 patients

https://apnews.com/article/technology-health-coronavirus-pandemic-3c41828083904f244dd091bec607ee48

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s largest hospital system, Ochsner Health, delayed more than 1,160 surgeries and medical procedures across the system over the past week because the hospitals are swamped with COVID-19 patients, system CEO Warner Thomas said Thursday.

The hospitals had too few beds and health care staff amid record-breaking number of COVID-19 hospitalizations across Louisiana.

“That is a significant disruption for other patients that we could not take care,” Thomas said in a Thursday briefing with reporters.

Louisiana’s daily statewide hospital count stood at 3,013 in numbers released at midday Thursday. The number was down by nine from the previous day — the first time since Aug. 2 that the hospitalization numbers didn’t set a record. But the number continues to hover over 3,000, far surpassing hospitalizations during three previous coronavirus surges in Louisiana that topped at or near 2,000.