Geisinger turned heads last week when the hospital system announced it was at 110 percent capacity, crushed by increasing COVID-19 hospitalizations.
In the Pittsburgh area, hospitals systems say they are also seeing unprecedented demand.
"We have a much bigger healthcare facility and provider footprint than Geisinger has, many multiples the size," said Dr. Donald Yealy, UPMC chief medical officer. "Virtually all UPMC facilities are near or at capacity."
As of Monday, UPMC had about 830 COVID-19 patients, the second highest peak since the pandemic started. Yealy said it's more intense than last December's peak because of a combination of COVID-19 hospitalizations, surging demand for other forms of care and staffing challenges.
"This is the hardest time in health care that I've seen in 35 years of being a physician," Yealy said.
Both Geisinger and UPMC say the vast majority of hospitalized patients are unvaccinated. Those who are vaccinated and hospitalized with COVID-19 are typically either older or have underlying conditions.
A spokesperson for Allegheny Health Network also confirmed the hospital system is "extremely busy," adding though capacity and available beds fluctuate daily, emergency department volumes are surging.
"It’s a combination of the escalating COVID hospitalizations, record breaking surgical volumes at our facilities, increasing patient transfer requests to AHN from non-affiliated hospitals, and the staffing challenges we are experiencing (like everyone else)," AHN wrote in a statement.
AHN is encouraging patients who are not suffering from an emergency to consider other care options if appropriate, including seeing their PCP or going to an urgent care facility.