How Healthcare Is Rationed When Hospitals Reach Capacity

How Healthcare Is Rationed, When Hospitals Reach Capacity.

As of September 13, over 96,000 hospital beds are filled with COVID-19 patients nationwide.

CNN reports that means 77% of all hospital beds across the country are currently in use.

When hospitals run out of beds or when staffing is low, healthcare professionals must determine which patients get treated first.

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These plans can include actions like adding beds, including in non-traditional areas of care in a hospital-like a cafeteria or parking lot, shifting patients between hospitals, and working with their local and state health departments to find other sites of care, Akin Demehin, Director of policy at the American Hospital Association, via CNN.

These plans can include actions like adding beds, including in non-traditional areas of care in a hospital-like a cafeteria or parking lot, shifting patients between hospitals, and working with their local and state health departments to find other sites of care, Akin Demehin, Director of policy at the American Hospital Association, via CNN.

Hospital capacity is not only about how many beds are filled, but many facilities are much more concerned about enough staffing to care for patients.

Hospitals and health systems entered the COVID-19 pandemic already facing a shortage of skilled caregivers, and the last 18 months have exacerbated that, Akin Demehin, Director of policy at the American Hospital Association, via CNN.

Art Caplan, professor of bioethics at NYU Langone Health in New York, says if a hospital is short on beds, they can prioritize care for patients who are more likely to survive.

That means a COVID-19 patient with no underlying health conditions could be prioritized over a patient with lung failure or other medical problems. Rationing health care is not new in the American health care system.

It's just Covid that's new, but not rationing, Art Caplan, Professor of bioethics at NYU Langone Health, via CNN