Record COVID-19 hospitalizations, lack of ICU beds putting smaller Mississippi hospitals in uncharted waters

LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – The record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Mississippi and the shrinking number of ICU beds means some patients won’t be transferred to a higher level of care.

“ICU bed utilization is up, hospital bed utilization is up state-wide,” says Winston Medical Center CEO Paul Black. “We’re setting records everyday and it’s the wrong kind of records we’re setting right now.”

Winston Medical Center is one of many rural hospitals in Mississippi that operates without an ICU.

“This influx of COVID patients state-wide and even in Winston County is just getting worse and worse and I don’t know when we’re going to have anything or get any relief down the road,” Black says.

The hospital’s usual method of relying on larger facilities and Mississippi MED-COM to find critical care beds has become increasingly difficult with 12 state hospitals showing zero openings as of Tuesday.

“They’re stacked up and there’s just not places to put some of these people sometimes,” Black says.

Over the last 10 days, Black says they’re been running about half to three-quarters full of positive patients and have had an explosion of COVID-19 numbers in their senior care facilities.

He only expects it to get worse.

“We haven’t hit the Thanksgiving part yet,” he says. “This week and next week are where we’re going to see the affects of Thanksgiving.”

With staffing also a concern, Black says their current plan is to do the best they can at their own facilities when they can’t find available beds elsewhere.

“We just have to do what we can do here. That’s it. That’s all we can do.”

Because of those high coronavirus cases in their senior care facilities and the decrease in medical staff, they’ve had to change their other backup plan of moving non-COVID-19 patients to their 10-bed general psych unit. Instead, they’re looking to use their smaller procedure area that gives them three extra beds.