ICU Bed Availability In Eastern PA: See Latest County-Level Data

PHILADELPHIA, PA — While hospitals in Pennsylvania remain strained by the coronavirus outbreak, several counties in the Philadelphia area showed modest signs of improvement in the number of intensive care beds available over the past week.

State data examined by Patch on Friday showed five counties where the percentage of adult ICU beds available increased slightly from last week, one where it stayed the same and three where there were fewer beds available.

Of those three, one of them — Bucks County — was reporting a difference of just one bed.

"Overall, the hospitals are very busy," Dr. David Damsker, director of the Bucks County Department of Health, said Friday. "There is some capacity left at all six Bucks County hospitals, but they certainly are stressed."

In Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Department of Health's COVID-19 data portal reported 92 adult ICU beds available on Friday. That's up 21 beds from last Friday. Lehigh, Delaware, Lancaster and Montgomery counties also had more ICU room free this week compared to last week.

In Berks County, meanwhile, the intensive care wards got more crowded. There were eight beds listed as free in Berks County on Friday, down from 16 last week.

Across Pennsylvania, 14.8 percent of adult ICU beds were free on Friday, according to state data. That's a very slight increase from the 13.7 percent listed as available last week.

Insuring that hospital beds remain available for people with COVID-19, as well as the majority of patients who continue to be hospitalized for other health issues, was one of the factors listed by Gov. Tom Wolf, who announced several temporary coronavirus mitigation measures last Thursday. They included closing indoor dining and gyms, limiting gatherings and suspending youth sports. The measures are aimed to slow the spread of the coronavirus in high-risk settings, officials said.

Damsker and other health officials have noted that, while the majority of hospital patients are not being treated for the coronavirus, those who are put an outsized strain on resources and staffing.

"Those 25-30 percent take a lot more time and care and emergency equipment to take care of," Damsker said.

Here is a look at the percentage of adult intensive care hospital beds that remained available Friday in counties in the Philadelphia region, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health COVID-19 data portal. Week-over-week changes are presented as percentages of total ICU beds:

Lehigh: 11.1% (up 7.9%) 20 beds
Northampton: 5% (steady) 1 bed
Philadelphia: 13.5% (up 3.2%) 92 beds
Delaware: 26.2% (up 17.2%) 21 beds
Lancaster: 22.2% (up 6.3%) 18 beds
Montgomery: 19% (up 2.1%) 65 beds
Berks: 22.5% 11.3% (down 11.2%) 8 beds
Bucks: 18.2% 14.4% (down 3.8%), 13 beds
Chester: 37.5% 30%(down 7.5%) 29 beds

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