Science

Hotels, Recovery Rooms and Waiting Rooms Pressed Into Service as UAB’s Patient Load Rises

UAB Hospital is taking extraordinary steps to continue caring for all of its patients as it deals with an onslaught of COVID-19 cases. Recovery rooms, normally used for just a few hours after a patient has had a procedure, now are being used for care overnight and sometimes for two nights. For patients who normally would stay a night for observation after a procedure, UAB is using rooms in hotels near the hospital. An emergency room waiting area has been set aside to hold 10 stretchers with COVID-positive patients needing emergency treatment. “You have to be very creative and look for safe, appropriate space to take care of patients that, under normal times, you wouldn’t make that choice,” Hospital CEO Anthony Patterson said in a press conference Wednesday. “What happens when you completely run out of space? We haven’t hit that point yet, and I think that’s the one thing that we are all fearful of in terms of increasing numbers of patients coming to the hospital. … Hopefully that will not happen.” Read more.

by Robert Carter

Woodfin Released From Hospital, Recovering From COVID

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin has been released from the hospital two days after being admitted with COVID-related pneumonia. While his condition has improved, Woodfin will work from home and stay self-quarantined. According to a Wednesday afternoon press release, doctors at Princeton Baptist Medical Center found “COVID pneumonia” in the mayor’s left lung. “I’m blessed they caught it early,” Woodfin said in a statement. He received the drug Remdesivir and convalescent plasma therapy to combat the illness. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

COVID-19 Case Count, Deaths and Hospitalizations Continue Steady Rise

The numbers of new cases of COVID-19, deaths from the disease and people hospitalized for treatment of it continued to grow in Wednesday's daily updated by the Alabama Department of Public Health. The agency reported 4,591 new cases in its 24-hour report, bringing the total to 384,184 since the pandemic began in March. The state has averaged 3,909 new cases a day over the past week. The report listed 108 deaths, bringing the total to 4,994 over the course of the pandemic. While the number of new cases generally reflects figures for the past 24 hours, the reporting of deaths is slower and can include figures spread over several days. The state set another record for the number of people hospitalized for treatment of the coronavirus, with the count standing at 3,080 on Tuesday. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Rising COVID Cases Send JeffCo Commission Back to Virtual Meetings

Jefferson County commissioners conducted their regular committee meeting Tuesday in the new normal way, returning to a virtual platform. With hospitalizations climbing to unprecedented levels, county leaders invoked Section 3 of the emergency declaration they enacted March 16 to permit virtual meetings. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Jefferson County Offers Call Center for Information About Vaccinations

Jefferson County has set up a call center to provide information to the public about COVID-19 vaccines and to help coordinate vaccinations. Because of limited supplies of the vaccines, the first doses are being given to frontline healthcare workers, emergency medical service providers and residents of long-term care facilities. The Jefferson County Health Department will inform the public when vaccines will be available to other segments of the population. Individuals and organizations in Jefferson County who believe they are in the current phase of vaccinations may call the JCUC Call Center at 205-858-2221 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Language interpreters are available upon request. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Birmingham Council Goes Virtual, Mayor Still Hospitalized

On Tuesday, for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Birmingham City Council opted for an all-virtual council meeting — though, at least initially, that format kept them from accomplishing much. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin remains hospitalized with COVID-related pneumonia. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

ADPH Adds 5,498 New Cases of COVID-19 in Tuesday Report

The Alabama Department of Public Health added 5,498 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday in its daily update. That figure apparently included an undetermined number of cases from over the holiday weekend that were reported late. Still, it pushed the daily average number of new cases over the past week to 3,970, up from 3,142 a week ago. Alabama has recorded 379,593 cases of the coronavirus since the pandemic began in March. There were eight deaths listed in Tuesday's update, raising the overall total for the pandemic to 4,886. The number of people being treated for COVID-19 in Alabama hospitals rose to a record 3,064 on Monday, compared to 2,815 one week earlier. UAB reported 226 coronavirus patients, its highest number so far. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Woodfin Hospitalized With COVID

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin is in the hospital being treated for COVID-related pneumonia. Woodfin is “resting comfortably” and “remains in good spirits,” the city said in a statement posted late Monday night on Twitter and Facebook. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

‘Oh My God!’ Alabama Running Out of ICU Beds, and the Christmas Rush Hasn’t Even Begun

Dr. Don Williamson, president and CEO of the Alabama Hospital Association, spoke Monday while he was scrolling through a spreadsheet with the latest data from member hospitals. When he got to the section showing how many intensive care unit beds were still available for use, Williamson’s reaction was telling. “Yesterday we had 118 available ICU beds,” he said. “Today, we have — oh my God! — we have only 5% of available ICU beds, 89. That’s the second-lowest ever.” That number is a red flag that tells Williamson and other public health officials across the state that the COVID-19 pandemic is reaching a crisis point, and the situation is likely to get worse during the next couple of weeks. Hospitals still are dealing with the influx of patients who contracted the coronavirus over the end of the Thanksgiving period or in early December. The anticipated rush from Christmas and New Year’s is yet to come, and that could place tremendous pressure on a health care system that is already perilously close to a breaking point. “My greatest problem is to get my head around the reality that what I’m seeing now has nothing to do with Christmas,” Williamson said. “You can predict that roughly 10 to 12 days after somebody gets infected, about 12% of that group is going to be hospitalized. We’re not at 12 days yet back to Christmas. … We won’t deal with that surge until next week.” Read more.

by Robert Carter

(Un)Happy New Year for Rising Number of Patients Hospitalized With COVID

Jefferson County and the state enter the new year with hospitals straining under the explosive growth in the number of COVID-19 patients since Thanksgiving. The daily patient count for hospitals in Jefferson County has risen by 64% since Dec. 1, from 390 to 639 on Thursday, according to figures released by the Jefferson County Department of Health. Two hundred and fourteen people in the county spent New Year’s Eve in intensive care units across the county’s 11 hospitals, 125 of them on ventilators. “Every single acute-care hospital is in the same boat,” said Julie Cobb, a registered nurse and health care coalition coordinator for the county Health Department. “Our numbers of hospitalized patients is increasing daily.” Read more.

by Glenn Stephens