The Mahoning Valley’s hospitals are being forced to get creative with housing patients as floods of them with respiratory illnesses and COVID-19 occupy large swaths of beds.

Data from individual hospitals obtained by Eye on Ohio through a public records lawsuit shows trends of zero or few intensive-care-unit beds available as of Sept. 17 at St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital, St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, St. Joseph Warren Hospital and Trumbull Regional Medical Center in Warren.

And, the state has hit its record low in available ICU, medical and surgical beds since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the most recent data reported to Eye on Ohio.

This can create problems for people who have other medical needs, such as a heart attack or stroke, should space not be available immediately.

“We need to have room in our hospitals not only for people with COVID, but for heart attacks and strokes, accidents and other medical illnesses. If the hospitals are filled up with so many, there may not be room for you,” said Dr. James Kravec, chief clinical officer for Mercy Health Youngstown and medical director for Mahoning County Public Health.

ICU BEDS

All of the Valley hospitals reported zero ICU beds available on that date, except Trumbull Regional, which had one available.

Since the pandemic began, the highest daily average of open ICU beds at St. Elizabeth in Youngstown was 11.1 on April 17, 2020; St. Elizabeth in Boardman had 19 available about a year ago on Sept. 21, 2020; St. Joseph in Warren had a high of 23 open ICU beds on May 16, 2020; and Trumbull Regional had 22 available on April 1.

The trend is statewide. There are just 179 ICU beds — the fewest since the start of the pandemic — available in the state, as of Sept. 17 — an 88 percent decrease from the availability of 1,594 on April 6, 2020, the date that saw the highest number of available beds since the beginning of the pandemic.

OTHER BEDS

The outlook for non-ICU medical and surgical beds is just as grim.

At the beginning of the pandemic, St. Elizabeth Boardman had a high of 286 beds available in March 2020, but on Sept. 17 the facility reported zero, as did St. Joseph in Warren, which had a high of 258 beds available in April 2020.

Trumbull Regional had 16 beds available mid-September, while the highest daily average of beds available since the start of the pandemic was 102.75 on April 12, 2020, an 84 percent decrease in availability.

St. Elizabeth in Youngstown had two beds available Sept. 17, compared to a high of 292 on April 19, 2020, a 99 percent decrease in availability.

Again, state figures are similar. The latest report of 854 beds available statewide on Sept. 17 is the fewest amount of medical and surgical beds available in the state since the pandemic came to Ohio in spring 2020. There were 27 times more medical and surgical beds available at one point in April, when 23,135 were open.

VENTILATORS

High percentages of the supply of ventilators are being used by patients locally and across the state as well.

There were about six times fewer ventilators in use in the state at the beginning of the pandemic when 6,501 were reported available; only 1,101 ventilators were not in use Sept. 17.

The hospital in Boardman had a high of 71 available in November, but reported four available Sept 17. The hospital in Youngstown had a high of 215 free in April 2020, but reported 90 percent fewer available Sept. 17, with 21. At St. Joseph, seven were available Sept. 17, compared to a high of 131 on Jan. 20 — 18 times higher than the most recent report.

The last time Trumbull Regional reported the number of ventilators available on Aug. 30, 37 were not in use, while 232 of the machines were unoccupied April 13, 2020.

All of the hospitals and the state have seen days since the beginning of the pandemic with fewer available ventilators. In March the state had just 677 available machines.

LOCAL TRENDS

“Overall, the hospitals are very busy with COVID-19 patients and non-COVID-19 patients. It’s been a very busy couple of weeks, exacerbated by patients with COVID and other non-COVID respiratory illnesses — like bronchitis, pneumonia, RSV and influenza,” Kravec said.

It is a little early in the year to see such an increase of these respiratory illnesses leading to hospitalization, Kravec said.

“It usually doesn’t hit until December or January, so we are a bit early. But the vast majority of the issues are with COVID,” Kravec said.

A message left last week with Steward Health, owner of Trumbull Regional, was not returned.

About 80 percent of those with COVID-19 in the Valley’s Mercy Health hospitals are not vaccinated, Kravec said.

“People with the vaccine have less of a chance of ending up in the hospital and if they are in the hospital, have less chance of being admitted to the ICU. And, if they are in the intensive care unit, they have less of a chance of dying. It is absolutely effective,” Kravec said.

But, Kravec urged, the data from Eye on Ohio only paints the picture of a “snapshot in time” and can change quickly, and hospitals can add beds to increase occupancy availability.

Hospitals are taxed, but there are creative strategies for ensuring the facilities can still take in patients, Kravec said.

“There are other places in the hospital for overflow — people can stay in the emergency room or double up in the same rooms and then move them around as more space opens up. The numbers are indicative of trends, but the numbers can change hour by hour so the numbers are not indicative of the entire story,” he said.

Kravec encourages the public to use walk-in services instead of the ER for appropriate health issues, to assist hospital staff in prioritizing more serious patients.

“We are really pushing walk-in care. If you need the ER, go there, but for other things, try the walk-in service,” Kravec said.

There are enough employees to tackle patient care, but the labor pool is tight like it is in other industries, Kravec said.

He urged people to take the shot.

“We have a tool, and the tool is a vaccination,” he said.

Medical / surgical beds

The daily average of available medical / surgical beds as of Sept. 17 and the number and date of the highest number of beds available at the facility and statewide since the beginning of the pandemic:

St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital: 0; 286 on March 22, 2020

St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital: 2; 292 on April 19, 2020

St. Joseph Warren Hospital: 0; 258 on April 3, 2020

Trumbull Regional Medical Center: 16 (on Sept. 16); 102.75 on April 12, 2020

Statewide: 854; 23,135 on April 7

Ventilators

Available ventilators as of Sept. 17, and number and date of the highest available number of ventilators at each facility and statewide since the beginning of the pandemic:

St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital: 4; 71 on Nov. 22

St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital: 21; 215 on April 4, 2020

St. Joseph Warren Hospital: 7; 131 on Jan. 20

Trumbull Regional Medical Center: (data last provided Aug. 30 at 37); 232 on April 13, 2020

Statewide: 1,101; 6,501 on April 17, 2020

ICU beds

The daily average of available intensive care unit beds as of Sept. 17 and the number and date of the highest number of ICU beds available at the facility and statewide since the beginning of the pandemic:

St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital: 0; 19 on Sept. 21, 2020

St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital: 0; 11.1 on April 17, 2020

St. Joseph Warren Hospital: 0; 23 on May 16, 2020

Trumbull Regional Medical Center: 1 (Sept. 16); 22 on April 1

Statewide: 179 / 1,594 on April 6, 2020

SOURCE: Eye on Ohio data