What it's like when hospitals say they've run out of ICU beds [View all]

[Jilly_in_VA]

Michael Kagan, a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, says the cancerous lymph nodes in his neck are like a “ticking time bomb.” But there’s little he can do.

MountainView Hospital, where he was scheduled to have his procedure last week, has put all surgeries requiring an overnight stay on hold as Covid-19 case counts and hospitalizations climb, according to a statement from spokesperson Jennifer McDonnell.

“I’m not getting any treatment so on any given day it could spread to another part of my body or it can grow and cause a much bigger problem,” Kagan told CNN’s Brianna Keilar on Tuesday. “I’m just living with a time bomb and I’m just letting it tick down, basically.”

With Covid-19 case numbers surging across the United States and many unvaccinated Americans falling ill, the number of available hospital beds has been dwindling in parts of the country. Some hospitals now report their intensive care units, which are usually reserved for the most critically ill patients, are full – a grim reality that’s forcing health care leaders to make tough decisions, whether that be redirecting new patients to other facilities, canceling surgeries or creating makeshift ICU beds in the middle of emergency rooms.

“It’s a nightmare,” said Dr. Teri Dyess, director of hospital medicine at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi. “We’ve had people drive here (from) three hours away for their planned surgery and we have no beds to put them in after they operate.”

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/14/us/full-icus-summer-covid-surge/index.html
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And people still don't want to wear masks or get vaccinated because FREEDUMB!