New Mexico hospitals close to rationing care, state health chief says
Hospitals in New Mexico are so overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients they might have to begin rationing care, state public health officials said Wednesday. The move, known as implementing crisis standards of care, could come as soon as early September.
On Wednesday, 433 patients were hospitalized statewide for COVID-19, a 23 percent increase from Monday.
Around 50 people were on a waiting list to get a bed in an intensive care unit, something the state has never had to do before. And over the next two weeks, health officials expect hospitalizations to increase 20 percent to 30 percent in New Mexico.
“Our hospitals are virtually full,” Dr. David Scrase, the state’s human services secretary and acting secretary of the Department of Health, said during an online news conference Wednesday. The state is on track to reach crisis standards of care in the next week “unless something unanticipated changes,” Scrase said. Computer modeling indicates New Mexico could see between 1,300 and 1,500 new cases of the coronavirus a day in the coming weeks, Scrase said.
Dr. Christine Ross, the state epidemiologist, pointed to data from the state Department of Health that showed nearly
90 percent of new cases, 92 percent of hospitalizations and almost 97 percent of deaths in New Mexico since February were among unvaccinated residents.
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/new-mexico-hospitals-close-to-rationing-care-state-health-chief-says/article_e1259b8c-05b5-11ec-a2a7-fb2d41193ed4.html