AKRON, Ohio — Hospitals in the Akron/Canton region are so overwhelmed with COVID-19, patients are being transferred to Cleveland due to lack of space from a surge caused by the delta variant spread by the unvaccinated.
“Hospitals all report greater than 90% of patients who are admitted to their hospitals are unvaccinated. So, this is really a surge of the unvaccinated,” Dr. John Crow, Akron Children’s Hospital, said.
Just yesterday, 112 patients in the Akron area were hospitalized with COVID-19.
“We have concerns because our hospitals are pretty much full, they’re at capacity," Crow said.
Crow also heads up the region’s 13-county COVID Surge Response Team.
He says the surge in COVID cases is not only taking its toll on hospital infrastructure but is also stretching thin overworked and understaffed crews.
But Crow stresses quality of care will not be impacted.
“Right now, everybody is going to get taken care of. It’s just a matter of how many patients will end up in the emergency room for an extended period of time. Do they have to open up other units, which could be limited by short staffing mostly.” Crow said.
Here in Cleveland, we’re also experiencing a rise in COVID-19 cases. But space does not appear to be an issue for Cleveland-area hospitals currently.
“There are available beds within our health system," Cleveland Clinic said in a statement.
MetroHealth had a similar statement: “We’re not at capacity at this time."
Same for University Hospitals, which said in a statement, it has “adequate capacity.”
And, as of right now, most of the hospitals in the area have yet to forgo elective procedures due to lack of space. But officials warn that could change if numbers continue to rise and vaccination numbers remain stagnant.
“This is a real disease, and it’s hurting a lot of people and the kids can’t get vaccinated. So do it for your kids, your grand-kids and all the kids in school,” Crow said.
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