AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Senior medical leaders in each of Austin's three major hospital chains, along with public health leaders, are pleading for members of the community to get their COVID-19 vaccinations as the area continues to see a strain on intensive care beds in area hospitals.
The joint statement, signed by Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes, Ascension Texas Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Samson Jesudass, St. David's HealthCare Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kenneth Mitchell, and Baylor Scott & White Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Robin Watson, highlights the surge that area hospitals have seen in the past few weeks.
Overall hospitalizations and new admissions have both been on a recent decline over the past couple of weeks, with Austin Public Health reporting 505 COVID-19 hospitalizations as of Friday - down from more than 650 in the final week of August.
However, intensive care beds and ventilators have not seen a similar decline.
"ICUs across the Austin area are now completely full, and many hospitals are surging beyond their licensed ICU space to provide ICU-level care to COVID patients in need," the statement reads. "The vast majority of these COVID patients are on ventilators, and approximately 90% of them are unvaccinated. Generally, patients who have been hospitalized during this surge are sicker and staying in the hospital longer."
Officials say the continued strain on ICU resources will have an impact on all critical care needs - including patients who have a heart attack, a stroke, or are injured in a car wreck.
During the previous surge, officials said, patients over the age of 65 made up more than 50% of hospitalizations; this time, only a third of the hospitalizations are over 65 years old. The mortality rate is also approaching 10%, officials said.
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