Dear Ann,

I just thought you’d like a boots on the ground report to shed some light on the “hospitals are overwhelmed” COVID-hysteria.  

I have spoken to several colleagues throughout the US who work in healthcare.   Their stories are very similar with minor variations:

First, hospitals in Syracuse, NY are indeed short on inpatient beds, but their bed shortages are not due to new COVID cases.  Rather, they are due to nursing home patients who are being refused re-admission to the nursing homes after their hospital stay.   

Second, some New England residents are traveling as far as Florida for elective surgery.   A Boston physician reports that hospitals there, averaging only about a 10% occupancy due to COVID, are cancelling operations at the request of the governor.  

Third, a colleague in Pittsburgh and one in Chicago both report their large tertiary care hospitals have only about 10% of their beds taken up with COVID patients.   I’ve heard the magical 10% number is pretty much the national average.  

There is large-scale fibbing go on here, but you already knew that.   

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