103K Coronavirus Cases, Hospitals Stretched In Riverside County

RIVERSIDE, CA — Twelve percent of Riverside County residents infected with coronavirus are currently ending up in the hospital, Public Health Director Kim Saruwatari told the Riverside County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Considering that there were 10,949 new coronavirus cases reported in the county Tuesday, albeit some of them backlogged cases, the impact on local hospital capacity — and in particular hospital staffing — is staggering.

The number of people who have tested positive for the virus since reporting began early this year now stands at 103,221. The death toll is at 1,513 — with 25 new deaths reported Tuesday, according to data from Riverside University Health System.

At Riverside University Health System-Medical Center, the county's largest trauma center, every adult hospital bed is occupied, and staff is now converting space to accommodate overflow, RUHS-MC's CEO Jennifer Cruikshank told the board.

For every patient who is discharged, two new patients are admitted, she said.

"This is putting an extensive strain on our staff," Cruikshank said, noting that all Riverside County hospitals are in a similar predicament.

Out of the county's total 3,560 licensed hospital beds across 17 acute-care facilities, 2,512 beds, or 70 percent, were occupied as of Monday, Bruce Barton, director for the county's Emergency Management Department, told the board. The county's ICU beds were at 90 percent capacity in the county, he said.

Forty percent of all Riverside County hospital patients are COVID-19, Barton continued.

After Barton addressed the board, the number of patients hospitalized Tuesday with COVID-19 rose by 33 to 733, with 144 of those patients in ICU.

"Everyday that we see an increase is a new record," he said of the surging number of coronavirus hospitalizations.

While not yet at the breaking point in terms of bed capacity, state models show Riverside County could see two to three times the number of coronavirus hospitalizations by next month, RUHS-MC's Dr. Geoffrey Leung told the board.

Even if hospitals can provide enough beds for every sick or injured patient who needs care, staffing shortages are already apparent.

Ten out of Riverside County's 17 acute-care hospitals are requesting support staff from the state, but so far the help has been a trickle as medical facilities across California and the nation grapple with staffing shortages.

"It's very meager at this point," Barton said. "It's a very small percentage of what's being asked for."

"If we don't have staffing for beds, then those beds aren't really serving us," said Supervisor Chuck Washington.

Supervisor Jeff Hewitt suggested the county develop some sort of fast-track health-care certification program to bring all available hands on deck in a time of "war against COVID-19."

"We cannot count on the state," he said.

Many Riverside County public leaders have scoffed at state public health mandates and models that warned of a severe late 2020 surge in the pandemic. Some gatherings, whether private, at houses of worship, at restaurants with bars, etc., have continued in the county, despite state mandates.

Supervisor Karen Spiegel has often said that she's not getting answers — nor data — to explain how the state determines thresholds for its mandates. She expressed the same frustration Tuesday regarding the lack of medical staff being provided to the county by the state.

"I think that we are being treated unfairly," she said.

Supervisor V. Manuel Perez asked how far away the county is from seeing failure in its health-care system.

"We could be at twice the volume [of hospitalizations] we are at now before Christmas," Barton said.

Leung said it will be three to four weeks before it's known how much the stay-at-home order helps curb the surge.

"We really want people to stay home," Saruwatari said.