COVID-19 patients occupying a third of all beds in the Intensive Care Unit in British Columbia

There are 474 people in ICU beds throughout the province. Of those, 155 suffer from COVID-19, or 33 percent, including several unvaccinated young pregnant women.

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A third of all ICU beds in British Columbia are now occupied by COVID-19 patients, the latest figures from the Ministry of Health show.

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According to data provided to Postmedia News on Tuesday, there are 474 people in ICU beds across the province. Of those, 155 have COVID-19, or 33 percent, including several young unvaccinated pregnant women.

The figures indicate that there are 510 base ICU beds in the main hospitals of six health authorities (including the Provincial Health Services Authority) and 218 overflow or sudden occupancy beds.

Interior Health is in the worst position in the ICU for beds, with base beds almost fully occupied (85) and 30 percent of overflow beds now in use (six); this is the highest among all health authorities.

Although the Ministry of Health now removes some very sick people from Northern Health hospitals for ICU treatment, this health region does not use any of its emergency beds and only 72.5 percent (29 ) of their base beds. This is the lowest percentage of base bed occupancy among all health authorities.

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The reason patients are transferred out of Northern Health is because of staffing issues, for example, there are not enough nurses.

“The key is always to staff and support the staff at Northern Health and that is why we are providing these options to reduce stress, particularly at UHNBC and at the hospital in Fort St John,” the Health Minister said Tuesday. , Adrian Dix. “Those are two hospitals that are under stress right now as a result of COVID-19 and other circumstances, and that is why we are taking these steps.”

Vancouver Coastal uses nearly 90% of the base ICU beds, while Fraser Health uses 86%.

Health Minister Adrian Dix said Tuesday that only five percent of people in critical care are vaccinated.

“We have a remarkable health care system, but this number of people in the ICU, remember we got to 183 in the month of April, that was our previous high in terms of people in the ICU with COVID-19: 156 we reported (the Monday) as of Sunday night is a significant number. With 138 of those not vaccinated, that’s significant resources in the system, ”Dix said.

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