With COVID-19 cases rising in San Diego, local hospitals are preparing for an increase in patients as cooler weather and the holidays approach.
This increase is already noticeable at Scripps Health.
"Usually after a holiday, a couple of weeks later, we start seeing an increase," Scripps' chief medical officer Dr. Ghazala Sharieff said. "More concerning for us is that from yesterday to today, we had six more intensive care unit patients, and that's a flag for us.”
Although the uptick in COVID-19 cases is creating concerns, hospitals throughout San Diego say they are well prepared to take care of new patients and haven't seen the need to tap into additional resources.
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“We're feeling very comfortable," Dr. Christopher Longhurst with UC San Diego Health said. "We have plenty of capacity to care for patients who need our care at UC San Diego.”
This feeling could change, Longhurst said, if the public does not follow the state guidelines that have already slipped San Diego back into the more restrictive purple tier.
“We’re very worried about the holidays because with the prevalence of disease increasing and people planning to get together in unmasked settings for holiday dinners," he said. "It could become a perfect storm that puts us in a COVID hell."
In April, San Diego County selected Palomar Medical Center in Escondido as the site for a federal field hospital with 202 beds, should San Diego hospitals reach capacity.
This is a resource that Palomar Health CEO Diane Hansen said is available but has yet to be needed.
“We haven't had to use it," she said. "And quite honestly until the county makes the decision that we need to open up those beds, it will remain closed.”
In order to avoid over-taxing the hospital system, health officials are urging people to use face coverings and follow state guidelines.
