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The situation has gotten so bad that Dr. Ben Zandpour, who serves as a medical director for two Long Beach-area nursing homes, said some facilities have had to make tough decisions on whether to send residents to the emergency room and risk them dying while waiting for an available bed.
“The hospitals are so full, that if a nursing home has a patient who looks like he might not make it, they’re saying maybe this patient should just pass away in the comfort of the nursing home,” he said. “It’s a really tough situation. And it’s something I’ve never seen in my 20 years in medicine.”
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Los Angeles County as of Thursday still had roughly 716 available hospital beds and 92 ICU beds, while officials cautioned that the numbers can change rapidly as patients are admitted and discharged.
The alarming drop in ICU capacity comes as health officials have warned of a mass strain on the healthcare system stemming largely from people ignoring safety measures and socializing with others.
More recently, health officials said they’ve seen cases stemming from gatherings during Halloween and Thanksgiving and have pleaded with residents to avoid getting together with people from other households over Christmas and New Year’s.