Delco ICU Bed Availability Drops To Single Digits

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — As Delaware County hospitals are diverting patients due to capacity limits, the state is reporting Delco hospitals are running out of intensive care unit beds.

State officials reported Friday that 16.8 percent of Southeastern Pennsylvania are still available.

But what about Delaware County specifically?

According to the state, just 8.4 percent of ICU beds are available in the county. The state considers 10 percent a critical point, where it may require hospitals to start postponing elective surgeries and other procedures.

That 8.4 percent represents eight total open ICU beds in Delaware County.

"The bed availability is constantly changing and managed at the local level," Delaware County officials said.

While hospitals in the county have been diverting patients to other facilities for several weeks, county officials said diversions can also be caused by non-coronavirus events.

In March, the Glen Mills School was used as an Alternate Care Site, where patients who had not tested positive for coronavirus but who required treatment for low-acuity conditions if local hospitals were full treating coronavirus patients.

That site was relocated to East Stroudsburg in April.

Now, Delco officials said contingency plans for Alternate Care Sites and hospital support are in place.

However, there are no requests by county hospitals to activate those plans.

Statewide, 13.7 percent of adult ICU beds remained available Friday, according to Pennsylvania Department of Health data. A total of 5,877 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in Pennsylvania on Friday, according to Pennsylvania Department of Health data. Of those, 1,218 were in intensive care and 675 were on ventilators, the state reported.

Pennsylvania broke its single-day record for coronavirus deaths this week, with state health officials announcing 248 deaths on Thursday.

Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday announced several temporary coronavirus mitigation measures, including closing indoor dining and gyms, limiting gatherings and suspending youth sports. The measures are aimed to slow the spread of the coronavirus in high-risk settings, officials said.

With reporting by Doug Gross