Hospitals across Pittsburgh region brace as covid surge delivers more patients

Hospital systems across Southwestern Pennsylvania, including UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, are braced for another surge of patients seeking treatment for covid-19 — though they are weathering the storm for now as cases increase and staffing shortages persist.

Nationally, some experts say the focus should be on the health of hospitals, while others say there remains value in taking stock of the total number of covid cases reported.

UPMC hospitals are seeing the second-highest peak of covid-19 patients since the pandemic started in early 2020. But all remain open and are accepting patients, according to Amy Charley, a UPMC spokeswoman.

More than 75% of people requiring inpatient care for covid-19 at UPMC hospitals are unvaccinated against the virus, Charley said.

The good news?

“We have fewer inpatients on ventilators than this time last year,” Charley said.

There are 6,187 Pennsylvanians hospitalized with covid, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Although cases have risen more than 92% in the past week, hospitalizations are up only 33% (from 4,648).

In Allegheny County, cases in the past week have increased by more than 140% (from 1,060 to 2,574 per day), while hospitalizations are up 40% (from 438 to 613), according to state data. In Westmoreland County, cases are up 125% (from 203 to 457) with hospitalizations up just 13% (from 83 to 94).

Allegheny County has had 18,016 additional covid cases in the past week, while Westmoreland County has recorded 3,202.

The seven-day average for positive PCR tests in the county is 26.4%, said Dr. Debra Bogen, Allegheny County’s health director. She said the county has “never seen positivity rates in this range before throughout the pandemic.”

Increases in hospitalizations generally follow about a week or so after reported case numbers.

UPMC officials said the unvaccinated remain most at risk for serious conditions from covid-19. Unvaccinated people who are sickened are seven to 10 times more likely to need intensive care compared to those who are fully vaccinated, officials said.

UPMC opened a second covid-19 unit at Children’s Hospital as a precautionary step, officials said.

More than 10 beds were repurposed and are being utilized to accommodate covid patients, keeping the patients in the same general area, said Dr. Ray Pitetti, director of pediatric emergency medicine at Children’s Hospital.

Pitetti said most of the children admitted who have tested positive for covid-19 are 12 and younger.

According to the CDC, there has been a 114% increase nationwide in admissions for covid-positive children — from newborns to 17 year olds — since the last week of December. From Dec. 20-26, there were an average of 313 admissions per day. That number more than doubled to 672 per day from Dec. 27-Jan. 2.

“We’re seeing a marked increase in the number of children coming in the ER who have tested positive for covid,” Pitetti said. “Last year, I would make about five calls a day, and currently I’m calling 30 to 40 patients daily. I had to call 72 patients in one day last week.”

The omicron variant is much more contagious than the delta variant but less severe, Pitetti said.

He said data suggest the surge will peak during the second or third week in January and decrease in February.

Children’s Hospital remains able to accommodate the increased number of patients, Pitetti said.

“It’s a scary time for everyone, but we are here for everyone,” he said.

Hospitalizations were not as high in December at Excela Health’s three hospitals as they were a year earlier, but they were higher than November — and Westmoreland County last month saw its single highest day of hospitalizations since the pandemic started, said Dr. Carol Fox, chief medical officer.

Currently, about 30% of hospital patients in Greensburg, Mt. Pleasant and Latrobe are admitted because they have covid, she said, adding that the majority of those are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated.

“We saw some decline during Christmas week, but the numbers are starting to climb again,” Fox said, noting that Excela hospitals have enough ventilators on hand. “However, our critical care units are strained by both covid and staffing.”

Excela and other health systems in Pennsylvania provide information to the state that is examined by the federal government, which determines where strike teams are sent.

In mid-December, Gov. Tom Wolf asked the federal government to send strike teams of health care workers to hospitals and nursing homes that are increasingly under stress from staffing shortages and covid-19 surges. Thus far, no hospitals in Western Pennsylvania have been identified for strike teams.

“We have not been notified that we are under consideration at this time,” Fox said.

The number of ICU covid-related patients at Allegheny Health Network hospitals is holding steady, though there has been an increase in admissions amid a significant decrease in nurse staffing levels, said Dr. Donald Whiting, chief medical officer.

“A year ago, our open positions for nurse staffing across our system was at about 300, and now there’s 800 open nursing positions,” Whiting said.

As of Wednesday, Excela Health had 144 nursing positions open, said Helen Burns, chief nursing officer. On Jan. 5, 2021, that figure stood at 111.

“Since early 2020, nurse leaders have been rethinking almost every assumption about how to leverage the health system’s nursing talent to address the patient surge,” Burns said. “Flexibility has become crucial. … The greatest impact is the burden on our existing staff as they are carrying an increased work load.”

AHN’s 14 hospitals saw 274 covid-related admissions Tuesday, Whiting said.

“The infection rate is multiplying rapidly in the area, which is suggestive that omicron is a part of the viral spread in the area,” Whiting said. “The trend is upward in Allegheny County.”

Forbes Hospital in Monroeville and Allegheny General Hospital on the North Side are seeing the largest increases in covid-related admissions in the AHN system.

“It’s stressful on everybody. It’s been a strain on everybody in health care, and nurses get the brunt of it,” Whiting said.

At Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison, two of the 13 patients hospitalized with covid-19 are in the ICU.

UPMC officials said vaccination — paired with masking and social distancing — remain the best tools in fighting the pandemic. They recommend all who are eligible to receive a covid-19 vaccine get the full initial vaccines, then a booster.

Joyce Hanz and Renatta Signorini are Tribune-Review staff writers. You can contact Joyce at 724-226-7725 and jhanz@triblive.com. You can reach Renatta at 724-837-5374 and rsignorini@triblive.com.