WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – With a holiday COVID-19 surge expected and the looming omicron variant we take a look at bed capacity at hospitals in the tri-county region.
At Watertown’s Samaritan Medical Center, around 80 percent of beds are taken in the intensive care unit. The ICU is where the sickest people go. That number includes patients with COVID, and those who are sick with something else.
People recovering from surgery go to a staffed acute care bed. Those are about 88 percent full at SMC.
These numbers from New York state were last updated on Sunday.
Last Friday, Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency due to the emerging omicron variant. She said once a hospital reaches 90 percent capacity, it’ll be ordered to end elective surgeries.
SMC Spokesperson Leslie DiStefano says Samaritan’s numbers have been consistent for the past few months.
“It’s been constant for us, so we are certainly in that mode and we have been operating as such,” she said.
Carthage Area Hospital, which doesn’t offer ICU beds, has 60 percent of its staffed acute care beds in use.
At Canton-Potsdam, 90 percent of its ICU beds are occupied. And out of 56 staffed acute care beds, none are available.
As for Gouverneur Hospital, 80 percent of its staffed acute care beds are in use. And at Massena: 84-percent.
At Claxton-Hepburn, 100 percent of its ICU beds are taken and 97-percent of its staffed acute care beds are being occupied.
And in Lewis County, 90 percent of its staffed acute care beds are taken.
But remember, those numbers are from Sunday. A spokesperson for the hospital says as of Tuesday 36 percent of beds are open. CEO Jerry Cayer wrote in a statement: “Every day we evaluate the bed capacity set against staffing requirements when considering the surgical schedule.”
DiStefano says SMC is prepared for a surge as long as the community does its part to get vaccinated and get the booster.
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