Today we made an update to the Hospital Bed Usage and Availability section of our Data Dashboard to provide more information about how COVID-19 is impacting hospital bed usage in Arizona’s intensive care and inpatient units. Previously, the data we presented provided a picture of the percentage of beds that were occupied and the percentage available on a given day. Moving forward, we will be breaking down the occupied beds to show COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients to provide a clearer picture of how COVID-19 is impacting the capacity of the healthcare system in Arizona.
The data shows a decrease in the number of beds occupied by COVID-19 patients over the last month. If you hover your mouse over each of the sections of the graph, you can see both the percent occupancy and availability for that day as well as the number of beds that percentage represents. The data used to create these charts is reported to ADHS daily by hospitals throughout the state. Monitoring this bed usage and availability will become especially important as we head into flu season, which is a time that bed availability usually decreases in Arizona and across the country.
While the burden of COVID-19 on Arizona’s hospitals has been decreasing, it is important for everyone to continue working to prevent a new surge in COVID-19 cases. Everyone should wear a mask, stay home if they are sick, and physically distance while in public. And, as flu season approaches, it is more important than ever to get your influenza vaccination. This will decrease hospitalizations due to influenza and reduce your risk of complications.
ADHS continues to work with partners to support the healthcare system in Arizona, including providing PPE to eligible facilities, facilitating transfers of COVID-19 patients through the Arizona Surge Line, providing hospital staffing support through our surge staffing initiative, and contracting with post acute care facilities to expedite discharge of COVID-19 patients from the hospital who are still in need of isolation but no longer need hospital level care. For more information about the Arizona response to COVID-19, please visit www.azhealth.gov/COVID19.
