The California Department of Public Health released dire numbers out of the San Joaquin Valley Saturday, reporting that hospitals have zero availability in their intensive care units.
That leaves doctors and nurses scrambling to find beds for patients, as the number of COVID-19 cases soars.
There are less than a dozen medical centers in the San Joaquin Valley with a combined total of 124 adult ICU beds, serving a population of more than 770,000 people. ICU bed availability has hit 0% at all of them.
"I was speaking to my colleagues at UCSF Fresno yesterday, and they had already started thinking about hard decisions, and about using and repurposing Valley Children's Hospital, which is a pediatric facility, to take older patients,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, infectious disease expert at University of California San Francisco. “And, [they were] wondering where they will put these patients when they continue to end up flooded.”
The valley comprises of the fast growing cities of Fresno, Stockton and Manteca, among others.
Dr. Chin-Hong told KCBS Radio that there is a shortage of medical staff, as workers themselves get infected with COVID-19.
He said medical professionals were wondering whether they would have to bring in nurses who had mild cases of coronavirus.