Huntington Hospital Increase in COVID-19 Patient Admissions Continues

While COVID-19 hospitalizations continue increasing, Huntington Hospital officials reported the facility is not near capacity.

On Wednesday, 65 patients were being treated at Huntington, with nine admitted to intensive care units, up from three a week ago.

The hospital is considering changing its data dashboard to include more information, including the number of patients being treated in ICU.

The hospital has 47 intensive care unit beds and could set up 89 ICU beds if the need arises.

The state is locked in a new surge of COVID-19 cases, and if trends continue, state officials fear intensive care units could be overwhelmed by Christmas Eve.

“We are seeing a rapid increase of COVID-19 positive patients at our hospital. While the news of the vaccine is promising in the coming months, we are still in a pandemic today,” according to a statement issued by the hospital.

“Huntington Hospital needs your help. We are asking the community to please forgo holiday gatherings, wear a mask, social distance, and practice hand hygiene so we can continue to provide essential care for the entire community.”

On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would consider further restrictions similar to the shutdown order implemented earlier this year, but with “modifications.”

As of Wednesday, 52 of California’s 58 counties were in the state’s purple tier, which is the most restrictive in the state’s color-coded COVID severity system. Counties in the purple tier are restricted from opening schools, bars and restaurants are limited to outdoor or takeout service, and retail businesses are required to have limited access. Purple counties are also under a curfew.

“We are sounding the alarm,” Newsom said earlier this week. “The spread of COVID-19, if left unchecked, could quickly overwhelm our healthcare system and lead to catastrophic outcomes.”

Huntington Hospital is still far from its highest count of COVID-19 patients, which was 79 on April 29.

Huntington Hospital President and CEO Lori J. Morgan said the facility could “potentially” provide up to 89 ICU beds, but staffing those beds might pose a problem “unless we were able to relax some of our nurse-patient ratios.’’

Additional nurses who worked temporarily at Huntington during California’s initial surge of COVID cases have since moved on, making staffing for any potential ICU bed increase a worry, Morgan said.

According to Morgan, three weeks ago the hospital’s seven-day testing average was 51, but has since more than doubled to 106.

In June, city officials closed an auxiliary emergency facility set up at the Pasadena Convention Center where 250 beds were placed in case Huntington Hospital reached capacity.