YRMC doctor says rise in hospitalizations will continue for several more days

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Yuma Regional Medical Center is dealing with an overwhelming number of hospitalizations. This, on top of the current staff shortage its been seeing as many more employees contract the virus.

It’s something we haven’t seen since early December 2020 - when the number was as high as 178 patients in the hospital.

YRMC’s chief medical officer told News 11 he expects current numbers to rise even more for the next several days.

The hospital reported 122 hospitalizations Thursday. 20 of those patients are in intensive care and 90 are unvaccinated.

“For a very long time we had 50 to 60 patients and we have doubled this number, I think within a span of four weeks,” Dr. Magu explained.

But this time around, most of the patients are between the ages of 35 to 60.

Magu says Omicron symptoms are not as severe if you’re fully vaccinated.

Vaccinated or not, patients are more than likely to be admitted due to respiratory complications.

“They're not able to maintain oxygenation, or they're breathing so fast that they're at risk of respiratory complete respiratory failure and going into going for a ventilator,” Dr. Magu added.
 
In fact, almost every patient in the ICU is on a ventilator and unvaccinated.
 
Overall, fewer are in need of intensive care and the hospital says most patients, not in the ICU, are being discharged within four to five days.

Making it a quick turnaround for the hospital.

“Even after discharge from the emergency room, the majority still get discharged from the ED. But the substantial number which does get admitted is still a lot more than what we are able to get out of the hospital every day," he said.

The hospital really emphasizes to the community to be patient and expect longer wait times than normal.

Also, there are many visitor and patient restrictions for all YRMC clinics. So, be sure to check in with the facility on what they do and don’t allow.