Data released by the federal government this week painted a more detailed picture of the toll that the pandemic has been taking on thousands of individual hospitals in the U.S. — including Columbus Regional Hospital, where the increase in the share of beds filled with COVID-19 patients has been among the highest in the state over the past three months.
Records from the Department of Health and Human Services show that, on average, the percentage of beds at CRH occupied by COVID-19 patients has more than quadrupled since early September and only 12 out of 120 hospitals in Indiana reported higher increases over the same time period.
From Dec. 4 to Dec. 10, an average of 27% of hospital beds at CRH were occupied with COVID-19 patients, up from an average of 6% of hospital beds from Sept. 4 to Sept. 10.
The data set, released Monday and updated weekly, reflects what hospitals reported to the federal government the week after a surge in hospitalizations and quarantined staff pushed CRH to its limits, briefly reaching full staffed capacity on Dec. 2, the same day a record 59 people were hospitalized with COVID-19.
Other nearby hospitals saw similar increases in the share of beds occupied with COVID-19 patients over the same time period.
Franciscan Health Indianapolis, located off of Interstate 65 near Southport, reported a 22% increase, while Johnson Memorial Hospital in Franklin reported a 17% increase and Schneck Medical Center in Seymour reported a 9% increase.
For more on this story, see Sunday’s Republic.
