Despite COVID-19 cases in Nebraska dropping nearly 60% in the last two weeks, the pandemic for hospitals is far from won.
Dr. Lance Shupbach, a dedicated in-patient physician at Bryan Health, said the drop in cases is encouraging, but there is a lingering – and more serious pandemic issue: over-crowded hospitals. Shupbach said it’s causing some Nebraska hospitals, like Bryan Health, to turn away transfer patients.
"For the other 13 years I've been here, we've rarely had that situation where we can't find beds for people," he said. "I'll breathe a lot easier when we band together and we suppress the virus so that we have room to bring those people in from out of town."
There's good and bad news with the pandemic, says @Bryan_Health hospitalist Dr. Lance Shupbach. While cases are going down, COVID is still congesting the medical center right now.
— Nebraska Public Media News (@NebPubMediaNews) February 4, 2022
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On Wednesday, Shupbach said he took calls from 16 out-of-town doctors who had patients that couldn't be transferred into the Bryan Medical Center. Not all of those patients had COVID, but Bryan just doesn't have room for additional patients right now, Shupbach said.
Statewide, COVID hospitalizations fell Thursday – from 735 to 678 – according to the state's dashboard. Those 678 COVID patients account for more than 18% of the state's beds.
Dr. Shupbach’s comments came during Nebraska Public Media News' "Speaking of Nebraska" program Thursday.