NBC 7’s Melissa Adan spoke with hospital leaders on how they are making more space for COVID-19 patients.
The COVID-19 hospitalization rate is trending upward in San Diego County, and with influenza and RSV caseloads high, hospital leaders are concerned about bed space now and after the holidays.
UC San Diego Health preparing to make more space for patients, and are prepared to surrender conference rooms if they need to.
"That is something that we are working on and it's almost ready at our La Jolla campus to create some additional space for patients," said Dr. Brian Clay, the Associate Chief Medical Officer for Inpatient Care at UC San Diego Health. "It's had a substantial overhaul."
Next week, the hospital will have a visit from the California Department of Public Health to review its setup to ensure it's appropriate for patient care.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
"So far we're doing OK. We are able to conduct all of our other hospital business, but the hospitals are quite busy and the census is certainly higher than usual," Dr. Clay said. "But we will need the additional space to care for these patients."
Last month overflow tents were seen back in use in front of Sharp Grossmont hospital Emergency Department in La Mesa.
UC San Diego Health provided NBC 7 with images of the tents they set up outside of their La Jolla hospital that allow for triage, where members of the emergency department can evaluate patients.
Local
Hospital officials say they feel hopeful that San Diego County will not see a winter surge as they did in 2021 or 2020.
