MERCER COUNTY — Mercer Health reported that due to a period of increased significant illness, they are now 25 percent over capacity as of Friday morning.
The change comes as the Miami Valley region continues to see a rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations as cases also continue growing.
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In Ohio, the Ohio Hospital Association reported 3,555 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19. 993 were reported to be in the ICU, data shows.
The region has seen a steady growth of COVID-19 hospitalizations since the beginning of July, when state health leaders said the Delta variant became a significant amount of the COVID-19 cases in Ohio.
Mercer Health officials said that in order to increase capacity, they will be required to cohort patients by placing more than one patient in one room, as well as evaluate staffing ratios.
“To further complicate the situation, many of the larger hospitals that we would routinely transfer patients to are facing similar struggles,” the health group said in a release. “This is a complication that potentially impacts not just COVID patients but also patients with trauma, cardiac and other conditions.”
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The health group is also asking the community not to seek emergency services at this time unless they are experiencing a true emergency due to the emergency department remaining “extremely busy.”
For more information, you can visit the Mercer Health website.