ARIZONA NEWS

Dr. Christ ‘hopeful’ Arizona hospital staffing can handle rising COVID wave

Dec 23, 2020, 11:00 AM | Updated: 1:15 pm

Medical staff members treat a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) at the United Memor...

Medical staff members treat a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) at the United Memorial Medical Center on December 22, 2020 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)

(Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)

PHOENIX – Arizona’s top public health official said she is “hopeful” the state’s hospitals will have enough manpower to handle the ongoing surge in COVID-19 patients that shows no signs of slowing.

Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Wednesday that staffing was a larger concern than space as more and more people who contract the coronavirus need hospital care.

“We have the beds and the ventilators and the equipment that we need to be able to treat,” she said. “It’s not actually the number of beds. It’s the number of staff.”

Christ said the state has been working to prepare for a wave of COVID-19 cases that she expects to continue for weeks. She noted that Gov. Doug Ducey allocated $60 million to her department earlier this month to address hospital staffing.

She said “hundreds of nurses” were heading to Arizona in the coming weeks so the state’s hospitals can add beds.

“So if we do see an increase in cases, we hopefully will have the staff to be able to staff those beds,” she said.

On Tuesday, the number of Arizona’s confirmed or suspected COVID-19 hospital inpatients surged to an all-time high of 4,163, according to the health department’s dashboard. The number of COVID-19 patients in the state’s ICU beds climbed to 972, breaking the July 13 record of 970.

Statewide, suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients took up 49% of all inpatient beds, a record high, and 55% of all ICU beds.

Overall, inpatient beds were 92% filled and ICU beds were a pandemic-record 93% full. The state was down to 119 unused ICU beds, the lowest number of the pandemic.

“We are currently at the highest capacity that we have had in our hospitals. And … these are the same beds that are being used for heart attacks, for strokes for car accident victims,” Christ said.

“These these beds are critical for people requiring acute medical care.”

Christ said she only expects another surge of cases and hospitalizations in the week or two after the winter holidays because people tend to let down their guard when gathering with friends and family, similar to what happened with Thanksgiving.

“We’re really encouraging everybody to do their part and mask up, stay physically distanced, [and] if possible celebrate the Christmas and the New Year’s holiday with only your immediate family that lives in your household in order to avoid spread,” she said.

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Dr. Christ ‘hopeful’ Arizona hospital staffing can handle rising COVID wave