Demand for vaccine increasing as COVID numbers rise
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Region s COVID-19 hospitalizations near pandemic-high
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Austin reportedly only has 16 ICU beds left due to COVID surge
By FOX 7 Austin Digital Team
Published
AUSTIN, Texas - Central Texas is now facing the lowest staffed ICU bed capacity since the beginning of the pandemic with only 16 staffed beds available, according to Austin Public Health (APH).
The 16 ICU beds are the only ones available for as many as 11 counties with over 2.3 million residents. 11 county Trauma Service Region O (TSA-O), which includes Austin and provides service to over 2.3 million residents, is facing low ICU bed capacity similar to the beginning of the pandemic, according to APH.
In a joint statement by Ascension Seton, Baylor Scott & White, and St. David’s Healthcare, the hospitals noted, The latest COVID-19 spike is putting extraordinary pressure on our hospitals, emergency departments, and healthcare professionals, and it has further challenged hospital staffing due to a longstanding nursing shortage.
Austin Public Health leaders on Friday announced that only 16 staffed intensive care unit beds are left available in the entire region, the lowest number of such beds since the start of the coronavirus pandemic before vaccines were widely available.
Those 16 staffed intensive care unit beds include every hospital in Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Lee, Llano and San Saba counties.
Those hospitals, all grouped together in what the Texas Department of State Health Service calls Trauma Service Region O, serves more than 2.3 million residents.
Austin Public Health officials Friday evening clarified that these aren t just beds available for coronavirus patients, but for anyone who needs intensive care in emergencies, from traffic wrecks to heart attacks.