DCH Ties High For Coronavirus ICU Patients Amid Surge

TUSCALOOSA, AL. — New hospitalizations have surged throughout the week for DCH Health System as the system tied its previous high on Sunday with 32 patients being treated in its intensive care units (ICUs) after testing positive for the coronavirus. The uptick is part of a wider spike across the state and nation following the Thanksgiving holiday, the worst of which many experts say has still yet to be seen.

QUICK FACTS

• Sunday's 32 ICU patients at DCH is the highest reported total since July 21-22, when the hospital system reported the same total during a late-summer surge.
• As of Sunday, DCH had averaged 17.7 new coronavirus hospitalizations per day over the last week.
• Tuscaloosa's 7-day average for new cases rose to yet another high on Sunday, reaching 107.14.
• A sharp rise in local cases and hospitalizations comes as Alabama's record for hospitalizations rose once again on Sunday to 26,331. Of those patients, 2,290 are being treated in ICUs.

In its latest hospitalization update, DCH reported 116 total inpatients across the three-hospital system, which also tops highs seen for previous spikes during the summer that topped out between at 105 inpatients in August. Examining the data over the last week also shows DCH averaged 17.7 new hospitalizations per day during the recent spike.

At the same time, community spread of the virus has resulted in a noticeable rise in new local coronavirus cases, with Tuscaloosa County adding 93 confirmed cases and topping 10,000 cumulative cases on Sunday. The past week also saw the county's 7-day average climb above 100 for the first time, steadily rising over the week to Sunday's 107.14.

What's more, 1,751 cases identified over the last two weeks for Tuscaloosa County comes out to 17% of the county's total cases identified since the beginning of the pandemic.

DCH Vice President of Marketing and Communications Andy North told Patch on Friday that over the past week, the hospital has converted some of its normal patient care areas back into negative pressure spaces with portable HEPA filtration systems that are exhausted externally. He also said the Tuscaloosa hospital had converted a meeting area into treatment space for observation patients, incorporating special air scrubbers while modifying rooms to be able to quickly be converted to negative pressure.

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While no official decision has been made on putting off elective surgeries at DCH or increased mandates from the city of Tuscaloosa, both hospital and city officials have stated nothing is off the table at the moment as the situation continues to develop.

Impacts to the city's workforce did, however, prompt the one-week postponement of Holidays on the River on Thursday, with an update expected to be given during Tuesday's regular City Council meeting. The next week, as many local experts and officials have pointed out, will also likely be key in understanding local impacts with respect to gatherings over the Thanksgiving holiday and the Iron Bowl on Nov. 28.

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