COVID On The Rise, How Are Hospital Capacities Near Bridgewater?

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — The recent spike in COVID-19 cases has put New Jersey hospitals under some strain. The state reported 1,526 hospital patients with confirmed or suspected cases — its highest figure since April 30.

Here's how hospitals in the Bridgewater area fared the week of Nov. 18 — the most recent period of available data from the Department of Health and Human Services:

• Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset (Somerville): 50.77 percent of inpatient beds available, 76.09 percent of ICU beds available
• St. Peter's University Hospital (New Brunswick): 49.81 percent of inpatient beds available, 47.78 percent of ICU beds available
• JFK University Medical Center (Edison): 42.11 percent of inpatient beds available, 45.31 percent of ICU beds available
• Hunterdon Medical Center (Flemington): 41.29 percent of inpatient beds available, 37.5 percent of ICU beds available
• Morristown Medical Center (Morristown): 22.96 percent of inpatient beds available, 26.74 percent of ICU beds available
• Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center (Plainsboro): 15.64 percent of inpatient beds available, 12.5 percent of ICU beds available
• Overlook Medical Center (Summit): 38.16 percent of inpatient beds available, 31.48 percent of ICU beds available
• Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital At Rahway (Rahway): 33.87 percent of inpatient beds available, 26.67 percent of ICU beds available

The ratio of COVID-19 hospitalizations to total beds provides insight into how much strain a hospital is under. The ratio becomes concerning when it rises higher than 10 percent and represents "extreme stress" above 20 percent, hospital-capacity experts told NPR.

NPR has COVID-19 data on two Passaic County hospitals — neither of which exceeded the 10 percent threshold. St. Joseph's University Medical Center reported 6 percent of beds in use by COVID patients, while St. Mary's had 3 percent in use by patients with the virus.

Somerset County, like the entire state, has recently seen a spike in coronavirus cases. The New Jersey Department of Health tallied 968 new Somerset County cases on Monday, Dec. 13. The county had 537 new cases one month ago.

Despite the recent increase in hospitalizations, New Jersey has made progress compared to this time a year ago, when the state reported 3,572 COVID inpatients.

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