PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Health officials say hospitalizations have become a key metric as they determine COVID-19 protocols, but not all COVID-19 hospitalizations are the same.
There isn’t clarity on which COVID-19 hospitalizations are severe and which aren’t.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health’s COVID-19 hospitalization dashboard does not differentiate between people who are in the hospital to be treated for COVID-19, and those who are in for something else and, during routine health screenings, test positive for COVID-19.
Similarly, Jefferson Health said more than 60% of the COVID-19 patients in its hospital have a primary diagnosis for something else.
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While the number of COVID-19 patients is almost as high as last year’s peak, the number of patients that are in the ICU is about half of what Einstein Medical Center Montgomery saw last year at this time, according to Medical Director Dr. Angie Nicholas.
She said vaccines are the primary reason they’re not seeing the severe disease.
“We don’t have as many patients in the intensive care unit, which is a really good sign,” she said. “We're able to keep those patients on the floor and then get them home.”
State Health Department statistics show that’s the case across the region — hospitalizations are high, but ICU admissions have held steady, not climbing with this recent spike.
That’s not to say hospitals aren’t stretched as thin as they’ve ever been. Nicholas said not only are they dealing with staffing shortages, but they’re also having trouble finding places to discharge patients who need a rehab or skilled nursing facility.
She emphasized to the public that emergency rooms should be used for emergencies only, as she put it. If you’re not dealing with an emergency, you’re taking a chair from someone else who is.
“And I say chair because we don’t have beds left,” she added, “where you’re taking up a chair from someone who is very seriously ill.”
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