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Capital Region has lowest bed availability in NY

Jan 26, 2021 6:00 am

Sarah Trafton is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Capital Region reported Mon., Jan. 25, the lowest hospital bed availability in New York. The region includes Columbia and Greene counties. Reportedly 24 percent of hospital beds were available over a seven-day average compared to the state's seven-day average of 32 percent; 18 percent of intensive care unit beds were available in the region, while 26 percent of ICU beds are reportedly available statewide. Neither the Capital Region or Columbia and Greene counties have been designated a micro-cluster for the coronavirus at this time. “We continue to meet the current demand and are confident we will meet future demand,” Columbia Memorial Health spokesperson Bill Van Slyke said. “We are working with all the health care facilities in our region as we continue to balance the load.” Van Slyke declined to disclose the hospital’s capacity numbers. “We have seen in the last several days a reduction of about 10 to 20 percent of COVID cases,” he said. Columbia Memorial Health has stopped performing elective procedures and visitation is suspended except for patients who are in labor, pediatric patients, and patients who are terminally ill. On Thu., Jan. 21, Albany Medical Center CEO Dennis McKenna reported 141 COVID-19 patients, 27 in ICU and seven on ventilators. “All regional hospitals, including Albany Med, have begun to curtail non-essential elective procedures and redeploy staff to the bedside to care for patients," according to the statement. St. Peter’s has also canceled elective procedures and taken steps to create additional capacity. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.