Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Columbia Memorial Health in Hudson is again diverting some non-emergency patients to other medical facilities as the number of COVID-related cases grows in the area, hospital spokesperson Bill Van Slyke said December 28. The diversions are used as a way to ease the strain on hospital services. The Emergency Department at CMH is one of the busiest emergency care centers in the Hudson Valley. “Like hospitals nearly everywhere, we are seeing increased volumes of COVID and non-COVID illnesses,” Van Slyke said. “The occasional use of diversion helps us better balance patient load across our system and the region. We reassess the need for diversion every four hours.' Columbia Memorial has 26 COVID-19 in-patients as of Tuesday morning, Van Slyke said. The Columbia County Department of Health reported 13 of the county’s 26 COVID hospitalizations are at CMH. “It’s very important to note that nearly all of our COVID positive in-patients are unvaccinated,” Van Slyke said. He encouraged everyone eligible in the community, to get fully vaccinated as soon as possible. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 71.2 percent of Columbia County residents are fully vaccinated. In Greene County, 59.7 percent of all residents are fully vaccinated. With the diversion protocol in place, Columbia Memorial is seeing patients in person at the Catskill and Valatie rapid care centers. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.