Health Officials Stress Hospital ICU Bed Availability Is Fluid Number

Governor Kevin Stitt said Tuesday he is ready to once again stop elective surgeries if needed, to maintain the state’s hospitalization rate, a day after the Regional Medical Response System said there were no ICU beds available in Tulsa.

Health officials stressed the ICU bed availability is a fluid number that can change in a moment.

Regional Medical Response System spokesperson Adam Paluka said there was a period of time when there were no ICU beds Monday night, but as of Tuesday morning that was no longer the case. 

Tuesday both the CEO and a doctor from Ascension St. John spoke at a news conference at city hall, saying while the system is strained, it is not at a breaking point or a crisis.

CEO Jeff Nowlin said the hospital is ready to admit anyone who meets criteria and said they will find room for patients who need to be there.

He also said they have enough staffing, and no shortage of PPE or medication. He stressed the number of COVID patients they are seeing in the ICU is much less than what they saw earlier in the pandemic.

Nowlin provided current numbers Tuesday, saying while the ICU capacity is fairly full, there are only 12 COVID positive patients in ICU right now, out of about 68 adult ICU beds.

The director of infection control at the hospital said medical staff has been creative throughout the pandemic and will continue to look for solutions.

"One of these solutions, for example, is repurposing certain spaces in the hospital, which we've done before, early on in the pandemic, to provide additional ICU capacity. And every hospital is capable of doing that. And people will stretch themselves and work extra shifts and do things of that nature,” Dr. Anuj Malik said.

At Ascension St. John, Malik said patients should not be concerned about coming to the hospital if there is a legitimate need for it. Patients are encouraged to continue their regular care, like cancer screenings.

St. Francis said it also encourages patients to continue coming in for regular care and not to delay any important screenings.