US Hospitals Face Supply Shortage for COVID-19 Patients

By Mary Anne R. First Posted: Jul 15, 2020 01:02 AM EDT

U.S. Hospitals COVID-19 — Photo : Getty Images Misha Friedman

Several hospitals in the United States are trying to accommodate all coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients as much as they can. Some health workers are already being infected with the virus just to be able to treat patients.

But many U.S. hospitals are already experiencing a decrease in bed availability. Some U.S. hospitals have also reported shortages in staff, medicines, testing supplies, and equipment to treat COVID-19 patients.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced COVID-19, a global pandemic, on March 11.

Since then, U.S. leaders are encouraging physical distancing to reduce the spread of the disease. This was to avoid new infection cases, so there will be no increase in demand in the health care system.

But the effects of physical distancing may take weeks to appear, and U.S. hospitals are lacking key equipment to treat patients.

U.S. Hospitals Shortage of Supplies

Reports said on April 3 that hospitals are also running low on oxygen supplies.

Many patients, even those not sick enough to be placed on a mechanical ventilator, have problems with lung function and are needing oxygen to breathe properly.

A few doctors have said their hospitals are also close to running out of their oxygen supplies in New York City.

There is also a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) facilities where it is most needed.

Texas ICU

Texas had 984 ICE beds available as of Monday, according to a report.

Texas Department of State Health Services data showed that non-ICU hospital beds are at 21.5 percent, with only 12, 066 of 55, 600 beds available.

Reports said that Texas hospitals are facing shortages in beds, ventilators, and staff. Many hospitals are not accepting any more transfer patients to maintain spaces for an expected increase.

South Florida Hospitals

The same case is seen in south Florida hospitals that are now experiencing a new surge of COVID-19 patients.

Broward County hospitals have reached 83 percent of capacity, while Palm Beach County hospitals have reached 73 percent of its capacity.

All have reported that their intensive care units are or at near-full capacity.

However, the bed capacity is not the only problem in the state.

South Florida hospitals are also seeing severe shortages in hospital staff.

State governor Ron DeSantis said he would recruit 1.000 hospital workers to help in Miami-Dade County and another 1,500 for other counties in the state.

Broward Mayor Dale Holness said on Tuesday that lack of healthcare workers is the biggest concern right now.

"We can manufacture supplies and PPE, but these workers are stretched tremendously. The shortage of beds is not immediate, but they are having a tough time ensuring their people are not stressed out and able to continue to provide care and support in the medical facilities," he was quoted in a SunSentinel report.

Chief medical officer, Dr. Sam Fahmy of Boca Regional Hospital, said doctors know how to treat patients better than at the start of the pandemic.

But the medicines that help them are also running low.

"We have many patients who would benefit if these treatments were more readily available," Fahmy said.