Marin County Prepares For Surge In Coronavirus Patients

MARIN COUNTY, CA — As cases of the new coronavirus continue to climb in Marin County and across the Bay Area, the county and local health care providers are preparing for a significant hospital surge in COVID-19 patients.

The emergency departments and intensive care units in the county currently still have "many empty beds," said Dr. Matt Willis, the county's public health officer. However, scientific modeling predicts a continuous increase of COVID-19 cases, creating potential surge over the next two to six weeks.

Hospital surge is the point when demand surpasses capacity in hospitals and other health care facilities.

"We're obviously caught up in this pandemic, but we're not seeing the surges that we expected before we made the decision to radically change together, to shelter in place," Willis said in a video message Tuesday. "Local hospitals are not overrun and we've had time to prepare."

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Since January, the county's Department of Health and Human Services has worked with Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Kentfield Rehabilitation Hospital, MarinHealth Medical Center and Sutter Novato Community Hospital to increase capacity during an expected surge in COVID-19 cases.

The typical capacity of Marin hospitals is 239 beds, including the appropriate staffing and supplies to care for patients, according to the county. Collectively, Marin hospitals have increased staffed bed capacity by about 67 percent to about 400 beds, which includes nearly doubling ICU beds.

In addition, the North Bay Incident Management Team, a multi-disciplinary team made up of emergency response experts, is working alongside hospitals and emergency medical services to refine existing emergency response plans for various levels of surge, including catastrophic surge.

When the number of patients exceeds the expanded capacity of area hospitals, the team would activate external health care surge options, including staffing, equipment and supplies at designated facilities or alternate care sites in Marin.

"We're fortunate to have the time and resources to prepare for surges in Marin," said Dr. Lisa Santora, the county's deputy public health officer. "These efforts, combined with those being taken at the state and federal level to increase capacity regionally, make us all more secure that we'll manage any surges we face."

In an effort to increase Marin's collective readiness for potential hospital surge, Marin Public Health, local hospitals and health care partners have restricted visitors to hospitals and longterm care facilities; canceled or postponed elective surgeries and routine medical appointments; moved services to phone and video conferencing as appropriate; provided child care for health care workers; provided places outside of the hospital for people with suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19; increased hospital and staff capacity; and coordinated hospital supplies and equipment countywide.

In addition, Marin's Medical Health Operational Area Coordination program has procured and distributed resources such as personal protective equipment and continues to increase inventory of supplies. Marin Emergency Medical Services Agency developed pre-hospital guidance to protect first responders and to reduce medical surge. Marin Public Health, MarinHealth and Kaiser Permanente have each established their own field-based testing locations. Finally, Marin Public Health increased its surveillance program to monitor cases of severe respiratory illness resulting in hospitalizations, which can be an early indicator of potential surge.

"The modeling that we're using to predict surge is very clear on one point — the most important way to control the number of cases that roll into our hospitals is through sheltering in place," Santora said. "Through measures like staying home as much as possible, physical distancing, and good hygiene, we are literally helping control surge levels, together."

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