Hospitals have space for COVID patients, but staffs are strained

On Monday, hospitals in the state were at 70 percent capacity. By Thursday, that figure was up to 77 percent.

A record 2,101 people were being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals statewide on Thursday – the sixth straight day the state saw a record figure. Twelve percent of all hospital patients in North Carolina have COVID-19, and that figure doubles to 24 percent when looking only at patients in intensive care units.

"Certainly, we’re seeing an increase. We are able to manage that capacity right now, but we are concerned about what the next several weeks will bring," Duke Regional Hospital President Katie Galbraith said.

Across the Duke Health system, Galbraith said, 111 people are being treated for COVID-19. The number isn't high enough to force any Duke-affiliated hospital to start canceling elective surgeries to free up beds, she said.

Dr. Michael Zappa said the same is true at Cape fear Valley Health in Fayetteville.

"We have a pretty robust plan in place," said Zappa, chief of emergency services at Cape Fear Valley.

Patient numbers would have to quadruple before hospital officials would talk about halting some elective surgeries and finding a way to get more beds, he said.

WakeMed spokeswoman Kristin Kelly said COVID-19 patients represent less than 10 percent of the system's capacity, and the system is still below its mid-summer peak.

"As we did before COVID, we constantly monitor care spaces, equipment, team members and flow to ensure capacity and routinely adjust surgery dates to best align with the teams and units needed to care for all kinds of procedural patients," Kelly said in an email. "We do not anticipate needing to broadly postpone non-time-sensitive procedures or redeploy the [outdoor triage] tents any time in the near future."

But both Galbraith and Zappa said North Carolina hasn't yet seen the impact of Thanksgiving travel and gatherings, which could send hospitalizations even higher in the coming weeks.

While bed space is still adequate, the biggest strain, officials said, is on staff who have been going nonstop for months.

"Everyone is reaching in deep and bringing out the courage," Zappa agreed. "But, quite honestly, the team is starting to feel the fatigue now as well."

"People just need to do their part. I feel like, if everyone was to do their part, then maybe we can start to control this a lot better than it has been," Harward said. "When I see the numbers rising, when I see more hospitalizations and things like that, it’s almost like reliving a funeral again for me. And that’s the tough part – you kind of relive this every day."