Prisma COVID hospitalizations jump 50% in Midlands after Thanksgiving, doctor says
Hospital beds across the state have been filling with COVID-19 patients since Thanksgiving and medical professionals are concerned another surge could follow the Christmas and New Year’s holidays if South Carolinians don’t follow safety recommendations.
“It is not time for us to let our guard down,” said Steve Shelton, an emergency physician who has served as Prisma Health’s incident commander for the Midlands during the pandemic. “It is very important that the public steps up, takes some responsibility. It’s what they do or don’t do in the coming days that could shape what our healthcare system looks like in the coming weeks.”
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide has been climbing for weeks and totaled 1,523 people Monday, an 87% increase from one month ago, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control. A growing number of those COVID-19 patients are occupying intensive care unit beds and being hooked up to ventilators, a sign their illnesses are increasingly severe, according to DHEC data.
While Prisma’s four general hospitals in the Midlands currently have adequate bed capacity and resources to spare, Shelton said they’ve gone from about 75 coronavirus patients two weeks ago to 116 on Monday, a roughly 50% increase.
Things are more dire in the Upstate, where COVID-19 cases have exploded in the past month, with 7-day case counts now nearly three times what they were in early November.
Prisma was one of five Upstate health centers that participated in a joint press conference Monday to urge community members to wear masks, socially distance and avoid gatherings, if possible.
Hospital leaders said their facilities were fast reaching a capacity breaking point, as rising COVID-19 cases have exacerbated what is always a wintertime surge in patients.
“While there is currently bed capacity for patients, there has been a sudden tightening of hospital capacity, particularly intensive care units — especially in the rural areas of the Upstate – due to the ongoing COVID-19 surge,” Prisma Health spokesperson Tammie Epps said in a statement.
Hospitals in the Upstate are 78% occupied on average, according to DHEC, but the ICU occupancy rates at some hospitals are much higher.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, three Upstate hospitals — Prisma Health Oconee Memorial, Prisma Health Hillcrest and Prisma Health Greer Memorial — are above 90% ICU capacity.
Shelton said he’s hopeful Prisma’s Midlands facilities don’t reach those levels, but that a lot will depend on whether people adhere to safety protocols over the holidays.
“We all recall the good times of meeting with family and friends and having fun,” he said. “Now’s not the time for that.”
Shelton advised South Carolinians to consider virtual holiday gatherings, and said if people must meet in person they should try doing so outside.
“We need to be very aware of the vulnerable ones that we expose,” he said. “We have to think about our elderly parents, grandparents, those with chronic health conditions like diabetes, obesity, (and) lung disease.”
This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 5:19 PM.