LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Some Louisville health officials are worried that a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases will soon have hospitals reaching full capacity. But officials with Norton Healthcare and UofL Health said they still have plenty of beds available, as of Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and Health Director Dr. Sarah Moyer sounded the alarm on hospital capacity concerns as the Louisville community recorded more than 10,000 new cases over the last week. But hospital officials said they're not seeing a huge spike in admitted COVID-19 patients to go along with that case spike right now.
"What we are continuing to encourage: If you have had your full vaccination -- both those vaccines and the booster -- that will help all issues for capacity or any future capacity issues," said Charlotte Ispan, chief administrative officer for Norton Women's and Children's Hospital. "We are not seeing capacity issues at this time."
In the Norton Healthcare system, officials said they are seeing an influx in testing but not necessarily a major increase in COVID-19 patients being admitted yet.
Officials at UofL Health said they're seeing a steady increase in COVID-19 patients right now in the ICU but not a sharp increase. They added, however, that they think it will get worse before it gets better.
"I don't think we're in crisis yet," said Dr. Jason Smith, chief medical officer for UofL Health. "To be honest with you, we've faced worse situations in the health care system than we're currently facing during this pandemic.
"I think, that being said, the biggest worry people have is that we're not at the peak yet. ... We're going to continue to increase the number of admissions, the number of positive tests, the number of staff out."
UofL Health said staffing shortages will become a huge concern in the coming weeks as the number of cases peaks. Currently, they have about 400 employees out systemwide, out of about 12,000.
Overall, both hospitals said they have multiple surge plans in place, but they are not using them right now. Those plans do include bringing in backup staff to care for patients.
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