Riverside County's Hospital Surge Is 'Unsustainable'

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Over the last week, Riverside County COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased 35 percent, and the mounting death toll is causing a backlog of bodies that was described Friday as "unprecedented" by a top county health official.

Riverside University Health System spokesman Jose Arballo said Friday that 74 percent of the county's 3,623 licensed hospital beds were occupied — with nearly a third of them being used by COVID-19 patients.

Riverside County’s 497 intensive-care unit beds were completely filled Friday, although local hospitals have been converting beds to ICU to make room for all critically ill and/or injured patients.

Nearly half the county’s ICU beds were being used by COVID-19 patients on Friday, RUHS data showed.

About 940 hospital beds countywide were unfilled Friday, and two emergency field hospitals were on standby — one at the Riverside County Fairgrounds in Indio and another at the vacant Sears building in Riverside. If needed, those facilities could house another 250 combined patients.

If trends don't improve, beds might fill. COVID-positive hospitalizations increased countywide Friday to 1,092, up 38 from Thursday. That figure includes 224 ICU patients, eight more than Thursday, according to Riverside University Health System data.

During a Friday news briefing, Dr. Geoffrey Leung, who serves as ambulatory medical director at RUHS-Medical Center, characterized the surging hospitalizations as “unsustainable,” and said that at the current rate of virus spread, the county can expect 1,800-2,200 COVID-19 hospitalizations by the same time next month.

About 12 percent of all coronavirus infections require hospitalization, Leung said.

On Friday, RUHS reported 8,244 newly confirmed coronavirus cases in Riverside County, the second-highest daily total since the pandemic began.

The total number of coronavirus cases recorded countywide since the public health documentation period began in early March was at 141,062 Friday, compared to 132,818 on Thursday, according to RUHS data.

Nearly half of the total reported cases are active, ongoing infections, the RUHS figures showed.

With the surge, overall patient care in Riverside County is becoming increasingly difficult for frontline workers.

"Staffing is still an issue at many of the county’s hospitals and some have made requests through the county to the state for assistance," Arballo said. Of the 17-acute care facilities in the county, about half have made requests for help, according to data provided by county health officials during Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting.

A looming nurses' strike at Riverside Community Hospital that's scheduled to begin Christmas Eve could exacerbate the problem. Read more: Nurses' Strike At Riverside Community Hospital: Talks Continue

Another complicating factor caused by COVID-19 is the processing of the dead in Riverside County. Over the last week, 171 COVID-19 deaths were reported. Thirty-six fatalities were reported Friday, bringing the county's overall COVID-19 death total to 1,744.

The mounting count is causing a backlog of bodies.

“Many hospitals are struggling … to transfer patients to the morgue in a timely manner,” Leung said. The county morgue is also behind as employees work to ensure proper health and safety laws are followed.

“We’ve never encountered this before,” Leung said of the county’s death toll. “It’s historic and unprecedented.”

The picture over the next several weeks —and possibly months — appears bleak. While the newly approved vaccine made its way to Riverside County, it's only available to health-care workers and won’t be offered to the general public for months.

Until the majority of the population is vaccinated, Leung said effective weapons against the virus remain the same: face masks, social distancing, and frequent hand washing.

“It’s likely things will get worse, before they get better,” he warned.

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