Ohio’s COVID-19 cases are surging for the third time, and social media channels have exploded with anecdotes describing how much space is available at area hospitals.

Some “undercover” videos show patients roaming empty wards. Other posts tell tearful stories by doctors and nurses exhausted from overwhelming demand.

After a seven-month legal battle, the Ohio Court of Claims recently ordered the Ohio Department of Health to release to Eye on Ohio information on the number of beds, ventilators, and other equipment available at local hospitals.

The data paints a complicated, constantly changing picture of Ohio’s efforts to “flatten the curve.” Some hospitals seem to be doing fine, while other hospitals seem to be constantly scrambling for open beds. The result is heavily dependent on where patients live, though overall the number of available staffed beds is shrinking.

“We are already at a very high level. We are already seeing our hospitals fill up,” Gov. Mike DeWine said at a news conference last week.

Some hospitals have seen their available resources shrink, while others have remained relatively stable. For example, despite having roughly the same population as Cleveland or Cincinnati, Columbus has seen far fewer beds available for hospitalized patients.

And rural areas with a relatively stable number of beds available have, on average, far fewer beds overall.

LOCAL PICTURE

Although local hospital systems declined to comment on and reveal their capacity levels, an analysis from Your Voice Ohio of the hospital data released to Eye on Ohio indicates St. Joseph Warren Hospital is full, Trumbull Regional Medical Center is near capacity and St. Elizabeth Hospital has been mostly full, or had one bed available in the past few weeks.

Alexa Polinsky, marketing director for Trumbull Regional Medical Center, said like other hospitals, the system reports bed capacity and availability daily to the local emergency operation centers.

“The hospital’s standard operations include 18 ICU beds and 12 CCU (critical care unit) beds. Trumbull Regional has the ability to add additional isolation areas as part of its emergency preparedness plans related to COVID-19. Trumbull Regional and Steward facilities remain prepared to properly care for patients with COVID-19, working closely with the local health department and taking proactive steps to ensure that staffing and resource needs are met,” Polinsky stated in an email.

Jonathan Fauvie, public relations and communications manager for Mercy Health, said the hospital data only catches a snapshot in time of an always evolving situation at hospitals.

“The data (released) is static and only represents a point-in-time. This data is routinely updated by hospitals, at least daily. This means that the data released under a public records request is only relevant for the day it was entered and may be quickly outdated,” Fauvie stated in an email.

Fauvie said Mercy Health has plans in place to handle increased cases, too.

Both hospital systems are closely monitoring supplies, their spokespeople said. And, both Fauvie and Polinski asked members of the public to do what they can to reduce the spread — by following mask, distance and gathering guidelines.

Dr. Matthew Colflesh, at Trinity Health System in Steubenville, said that in the first two waves, his rural hospital didn’t see that many patients, just nine in the first wave and five in the second.

“My theme now is that things are different. We have reached a point in the past two weeks where the max number of hospitalizations in this hospital is 34,” he said.

OTHER MEASURES

One bright spot has been that personal protective equipment has, so far, remained relatively stable, though half of Ohio’s known coronavirus cases have been reported in just the past five weeks. However, not all hospitals report their equipment numbers.

On March 19, Ohio postponed all elective surgeries, causing a large spike in hospital beds available. On June 2, Ohio resumed other procedures. In early November, hospital officials announced they would start transferring patients to other systems to help even out patient loads.

Last week, Mercy Health-Youngstown indefinitely suspended elective procedures that require an overnight hospital stay. The decision, announced Nov. 23 by the health care provider, was made after “careful assessment and deliberation” as the viral pandemic continues to surge “to safeguard the health of our patients, associates and the communities we serve.”

The rule applies to all three of Mercy Health’s hospitals in the Mahoning Valley: St. Joseph Warren Hospital and St. Elizabeth hospitals in Youngstown and in Boardman. Mercy Health’s surgical center in Howland is solely for outpatient procedures.

The Ohio Department of Health released records of staffed hospital capacity to Eye on Ohio from March 16 through Nov. 20. Eye on Ohio has requested the most recent data, from after that date.

“As is true in areas across the state, our biggest capacity constraint is not in physical space, but in staffing availability, both of which we monitor daily,” said Lisa Henderson, vice president of health initiatives at the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association. “Our hospital leaders continue to work together to plan for what comes next, on behalf of our regional hospital community to ensure we can continue to care for the people in our region, whether that care is needed for COVID-19 or any other medical condition.”

In terms of hospital capacity, our hospitals are extremely busy,” said Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, Chief Medical Officer of the Ohio Department of Health. “Any time you have a SINGLE diagnosis that is occupying 20, 30 percent of the beds in your hospital, you’re extremely busy. Because that’s unheard of.”

Reporter Renee Fox contributed to this story.

This article was provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism.