If Hospitals Are Only 80% Full, Why Are We Concerned?

A two-minute summary of a COVID-19 question

My husband asked me this morning, “If Chicago hospitals are only 80% full, why all the overtime and concern about overwhelm? I mean, they’re built for 100%.”

Logical question from one who rarely interacts with a hospital. Who also avoids long answers. So here are short answers.

FIRST

Hospitals are rarely 100% full. They are regularly staffed for 60% full with a surge availability of 80%. 100% takes a concerted effort — like borrowing from other hospitals, temporarily. COVID-19 already occupies all excess at all hospitals.

When your child contracts appendicitis, you want a hospital that’s only 80% full. You want an ER that’s empty because all the COVID cases are in the parking lot. You want extra staff working overtime to take COVID patients into a separate elevator and keep them in a separate wing.

SECOND

Ventilators are highly labor-intensive. It takes 3–4 staff members to constantly monitor a comatose patient on a ventilator. Yes, all ventilator patients are induced into comas. No, most monitoring is not automated. Lungs are too sensitive, COVID-19 is too variable.

A mid-size hospital would normally have 2–3 ventilators on site. Now it has 10–15 — in use. What usually takes 12 professionals to oversee now needs 40. Constantly.

THIRD

Stress. Imagine if every move you made, all day, every minute, might result in your death. If you once forgot to wash up into your wrist. If you leaned near someone just as they sneezed. If that tabletop was due to be wiped one minute later. That’s even if you have proper PPE.

Add in the deaths — patients, colleagues, friends. Fear rides your shoulders, heavy for weeks already, no relief in sight.

Concerned? Yes, we need to be. Now and for a long time to come.