Name: TMC hospitals, hit by COVID surge, exceed base ICU capacity for first time since summer
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TMC hospitals, hit by COVID surge, exceed base ICU capacity for first time since summer

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Texas Medical Center hospitals exceeded base ICU capacity for the first time since COVID-19 cases spiked over the summer, according to ominous data released Thursday, the same day a government panel’s endorsement of a vaccine stirred hope of an eventual end to the pandemic.TMC hospital officials downplayed the increase, particularly compared with much of the rest of the nation, where more than one-third of hospitals are running short of intensive care beds. But the TMC increase nevertheless required a return to “Phase 2” surge planning, in which regular beds are with additional staff and equipment.The peak of such hospitalizations is not expected to come for another two weeks to more than a month, officials said.Coronavirus Pandemic“We’ll be in a sort of race against time over the next two months, trying to keep COVID-19 at bay before a vaccine can be widely deployed,” said Dr. Marc Boom, president of Houston Methodist. “There are a lot of unfavorable dynamics — colder weather, holiday parties, people indoors — that will lead to record hospitalizations and record deaths if people don’t practice preventative behavior.”Dr. Paul Klotman, president of Baylor College of Medicine, added that COVID-19 has been such a federal public health failure that “the vaccine is the only thing that’s going to get us out of this situation.”Klotman and Boom both lauded the vaccine news as “a massive win for science and the community,” and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo called it “a testament to the power of modern medicine, science and the tireless efforts of researchers and institutions — many from right here in Harris County — who have worked so hard to finally bring light to the end of this tunnel.”The FDA advisory panel voted 17-4, with one abstention, to endorse Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, which protected nearly 95 percent of trial participants from contracting the disease. The first of a number of such vaccines in the pipeline — one by Moderna is about a week behind — it now requires only full FDA approval before it is rolled out to hospitals as part of an unprecedented campaign to slow the spread of the spread of the virus that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans, more than 23,000 of them Texans.The FDA is expected to grant emergency use authorization Saturday, the New York Times reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the agency’s planning.Texas Medical Center hospitals are bracing for vaccine shipments to arrive sometime between Monday and Wednesday before inoculating hospital employees the following day. Under a tiered plan, the vaccine will go to front-line hospital workers first then first responders and people at high risk of complications from the disease before it begins to be more widely administered. It will probably won’t be available to average folks until April.Methodist has been told it will get 13,650 doses in the first shipment, which Boom said will enable the system to schedule inoculations for about 11,000 employees, 2,100 a day, over a week’s period. Boom said he hopes inoculations for high-risk patients will begin by early January.Memorial Hermann will be getting the largest initial vaccine shipment of all Houston-area hospital systems, 16,575 doses.Next week’s rollout cannot come too soon for the TMC; Boom said he wished it would have been ready two months ago, when the Houston-area uptick of cases began. The medical center reported 1,387 patients in the ICU at the end of the day Wednesday, 4 percent more than its normal capacity. It has room for 316 more ICU patients under Phase 2 planning.But TMC officials said that though the uptick is concerning, things are still manageable. COVID-19 patients occupied 351 of TMC ICU beds Wednesday, compared with 646 on July 9, one of the summer’s peak days. Methodist currently has 82 COVID-19 patients in the ICU, Boom said, compared with 190 on July 9.Klotman added that although the TMC hit a limit Wednesday, capacity is not an issue because hospitals regularly operate with ICU usage above 90 percent and it is not uncommon to exceed base capacity during flu season. He said he is hopeful that Houston will not be in danger of exceeding capacity at any point this winter.Klotman said he’s more concerned about rural parts of Texas and the nation than Houston, which he characterized as “doing OK.” He said Houston isn’t going up “nearly as fast” as other places.Still, the TMC’s ICU population is growing by 2.1 percent daily, according to TMC’s published metrics, a rate that if unchanged would exhaust the 316 additional beds available under Phase 2 in 10 days. The hospitals moving into Phase 3, something that never happened during the summer, since it would require packing two patients into single rooms and placing beds where facilities normally do not.In a statement, Hidalgo said the TMC’s exceeding of its base ICU capacity demonstrates “our healthcare system is under renewed strain.”“Even with a vaccine on the horizon, it is important for residents to know that the current distribution plans are not fast enough to make an impact on the current surge,” Hidalgo said. “There is finally light at the end of the tunnel, but we’re not there yet.”Hidalgo said exhausting normal ICU space was the latest piece of evidence proving the region must do more than simply wait for a vaccine to arrive. Since June, Harris County has been at its highest threat level, which urges residents to stay home and avoid contact with others.Many residents, however, in recent months have returned to socializing, traveling and dining at bars and restaurants.The Houston region has recorded 288,000 COVID-19 cases and 4,185 deaths, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis.After improving from August through October, the Houston area’s COVID-19 metrics have worsened significantly over the past two months. The 25-county region anchored by Houston reported 1,887 COVID hospitalizations on Tuesday, more than double the figure on Nov. 1.Hidalgo and Mayor Sylvester Turner urged residents to and limit their Thanksgiving gatherings to their immediate households to reduce the virus’ spread. Though Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, said the full impact of the Thanksgiving weekend on COVID-19 cases is not yet known, Boom and Klotman said they have not yet seen evidence suggesting a holiday spike.“We are far from through with this and we are desperately asking our community to do more,” Hidalgo said in the statement. “It’s been a tough year, but we owe it to our front-line workers and the thousands who have lost loved ones from this virus to keep at it.”zach.despart@chron.comtodd.ackerman@chron.com

Texas Medical Center hospitals exceeded base ICU capacity for the first time since COVID-19 cases spiked over the summer, according to ominous data released Thursday, the same day a government panel’s endorsement of a vaccine stirred hope of an eventual end to the pandemic.TMC hospital officials downplayed the increase, particularly compared with much of the rest of the nation, where more than one-third of hospitals are running short of intensive care beds. But the TMC increase nevertheless required a return to “Phase 2” surge planning, in which regular beds are with additional staff and...

TMC hospitals, hit by COVID surge, exceed base ICU capacity for first time since summer

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