Coronavirus Patients Straining Allegheny County Hospitals

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PA — An average of more than one out of every five hospital beds in Allegheny County is occupied by a coronavirus patient, a data tool that tracks that number indicates. That's putting a strain on many of the medical facilities, according to hospital capacity experts.

In Allegheny County, the problem currently is most acute at Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison. Ninety-two percent of its beds are occupied, with 50 percent of the patients being treated for coronavirus.

Hospitals in the county on average are 81 percent full at the moment, with 22 percent of the beds being taken by those being treated for the virus.

The federal government released new hospital-level data on Monday. NPR, using analysis from the University of Minnesota's COVID-19 Hospitalization Tracking Project, built a tool that shows hospital-by-hospital information.

You can access the tool here.

The COVID-19 hospitalization ratio to total beds provides a snapshot of how much strain a hospital is under. There's not a definitive number, but hospital capacity experts told NPR it's concerning when the rate rises above 10 percent.

Anything above 20 percent means a hospital is under "extreme stress" according to a framework developed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

Using those percentages, 12 hospitals in the county are strained, with six of those strained and under extreme stress.

The current percentages:

Allegheny General Hospital

Adult inpatient beds in use: 93 percent

Coronavirus inpatient beds: 18 percent

Allegheny Valley

Adult inpatient beds in use: 92 percent

Coronavirus inpatient beds: 50 percent

Forbes

Adult inpatient beds in use: 92 percent

Coronavirus inpatient beds: 20 percent

Heritage Valley Sewickley

Adult inpatient beds in use: 56 percent
Coronavirus inpatient beds: 20 percent

Jefferson

Adult inpatient beds in use: 83 percent
Coronavirus inpatient beds: 28 percent

Magee-Women's

Adult inpatient beds in use: 62 percent

Coronavirus inpatient beds: 7 percent

St. Clair

Adult inpatient beds in use: 115 percent
Coronavirus inpatient beds: 27 percent

UPMC East

Adult inpatient beds in use: 100 percent
Coronavirus inpatient beds: 32 percent

UPMC McKeesport

Adult inpatient beds in use: 92 percent
Coronavirus inpatient beds:17 percent

UPMC Mercy

Adult inpatient beds in use: 87 percent
Coronavirus inpatient beds: 11 percent

UMPC Passavant

Adult inpatient beds in use: 92 percent
Coronavirus inpatient beds: 22 percent

UPMC Presbyterian-Shadyside

Adult inpatient beds in use: 89 percent
Coronavirus inpatient beds: 12 percent

UPMC St. Margaret

Adult inpatient beds in use: 100 percent
Coronavirus inpatient beds: 30 percent

West Penn

Adult inpatient beds in use: 84 percent
Coronavirus inpatient beds: 16 percent