BUFFALO, N.Y. — With COVID case numbers surging here in Western New York and the connected concerns about overcrowded hospitals, Gov. Kathy Hochul has just come out with a new executive order to address the situation.
This executive order announced by Gov. Hochul late Friday afternoon is meant to boost hospital space at a time when it may be badly needed for new severe COVID cases here in Western New York.
It takes effect next Friday. But we've been hearing the warnings for some time.
Dr. Michael Mineo who is Chief Medical Officer for Buffalo General and Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital told 2 On Your Side last Monday, "Over the last week and a half, every hospital across Western New York... we're seeing a surge in COVID patients. That is overwhelming the emergency rooms, inpatients. But what should be worrying all of us is that we are now overwhelming the ICU's."
While we got that message from one of the top Kaleida doctors earlier this week. There was no response to the Governor's new directive from any local hospital official Friday evening. But for weeks hospitals have reported very near capacity for "staffed beds" which are covered by nurses and other medical staff employees.
So now to ease the burden and perhaps make space for new COVID patients, Gov. Hochul is giving the state health department discretion to order hospital administrators to limit non-essential, non-urgent procedures for hospital systems with "limited capacity." That capacity is defined as below 10 percent staffed bed capacity or other utilization factors.
The governor stated in her message, "I am announcing urgent steps today to expand hospital capacity and help ensure our hospital systems can tackle any challenges posed by the pandemic."
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz previously said 91 percent of total hospital beds in Erie County were full. And on Wednesday we specifically asked him if there are actually less beds available now as compared to a year ago.
Poloncarz responded, "I don't know the exact number compared to last year, but I do know as a staffed bed number - it varies on a daily basis. But there were more beds available because elective surgeries were prohibited and there was greater staffing."
He added, "They've lost people that were working previously who quit."
So we can also factor in fallout from the Mercy strike and the change from the Catholic Health move last year to use its St. Joseph's campus in Lancaster for a COVID-only facility treating over 2,100 patients until this past May. It is not available now as the facility is being converted for only outpatient treatment procedures.
So now it appears elective surgeries may be temporarily eliminated again with this order.
That also slams the hospitals' finances once again as elective surgeries are major revenue generators for hospitals. They had been restored earlier in the year as COVID cases had been trending down until now.
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