Since mid-November, the Quad-County region of Carson City, Lyon County, Douglas County, and Storey County have seen a spike in the number of active COVID-19 cases, with the number of active cases more than doubling over the past 24 hours. Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center is feeling the squeeze and is running at about 90 percent capacity at the Regional Medical Center.
According to spokesperson Diane Rush, the hospital is temporarily increasing its capacity for inpatients by utilizing beds at Carson Tahoe Long-Term Acute Care Hospital as well as Carson Tahoe Sierra Surgery.
Rush wrote in an email that this is traditionally the busiest time of year anyway, so they are continually monitoring patient status and staff ability to assure proper care delivery, which is in a state of continual flux.
The Carson Tahoe hospital has seen a roughly 50 percent increase in COVID-19 patients since September.
To help meet the demand for treating COVID-19 patients, Rush says the hospital is grateful that they proactively suspended non-emergent or non-time-sensitive surgeries a few weeks ago.
Emergency surgeries have not been suspended, but because of this reallocation of resources, they are confident that they can provide a safe and healthy environment for each patient, COVID-positive or otherwise.
COVID-19 positive and COVID-19 rule-out patients (those who need to be hospitalized and are waiting for test results) are separated from other patients and cohorted together whenever possible.
