A recent story in the Los Angeles Times detailed the death earlier this month of a Joshua Tree resident who died because of the coronavirus surge. Kim Folsom did not have COVID-19, but Hi-Desert Medical Center—and other hospitals in the Southland—were filled to capacity and had no room to admit her. Folsom, who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer three years ago, woke up in a pool of blood December 7. Her husband Billy took her to Hi-Desert Medical Center, but the hospital could not care for her, and her doctor was unable to find any hospital that had room to admit her. Nearly 12 hours after arriving at the emergency room, Kim Folsom died.
A spokesman for Tenet hospitals, which oversees Hi-Desert Medical Center, said he couldn’t comment on Kim Folsom’s case or the story, but urged residents not to put off seeking care for any emergency issue, and added the emergency room is available to care for patients.
Hi-Desert Medical Center has seven patients with COVID-19. Managing editor Tami Roleff explains that just because state and county officials say a region has 0% availability of ICU beds, doesn’t mean that there are no ICU beds available that day…
California’s Department of Public Health says that patients with COVID-19 should not occupy more than 30 percent of the region’s ICU beds. For each percentage over 30 percent, the available ICU capacity is reduced by a half percentage point. For example, 16.66% of San Bernardino’s staffed ICU beds were available Sunday, December 20. But because more than 45% of the county’s 744 beds were taken by coronavirus patients, its availability is downgraded to 7 percent. There are still 124 ICU beds available in San Bernardino County. ICU capacity among hospitals in the 11-county Southern California region Friday was 10.7%. With the adjustment, capacity was 0%.
