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Texas Hospital Says 100% Of ICU Beds Full—Then Removes Its Report

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This article is more than 3 years old.
Updated Jun 28, 2020, 04:33pm EDT

TOPLINE

Reports emerged Sunday that Texas’ largest medical complex removed data from its website on its ICU bed capacity, after previously reporting the beds were 100% occupied, raising questions whether the removal was political as the hospital promises a new set of data will be released soon.

KEY FACTS

The Washington Post reported Sunday that the Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest medical complex located in Houston, “quietly” removed ICU data from its website, which posts regular updates about its efforts against Covid-19

Data released by the medical center Thursday said 100% of their regular ICU beds were full, setting off alarm bells for some politicians and public health experts, but center officials said more beds could be added to accommodate a possible surge.

Also Thursday: Gov. Greg Abbott ordered Houston to pause elective surgeries to keep beds available for coronavirus patients after the number of hospitalized patients hit record highs for two straight weeks.

The medical center’s website claims in a popup that an “incomplete slide deck” was posted yesterday, and promised “new slides. . .will be released later today [and] will provide a more comprehensive and accurate description of the current status.”

An NBC News reporter tweeted that the medical center told him Sunday that new data was being compiled for release because “After the events of this week, everyone realized the capacity question was complicated and misunderstood.”

Texas Medical Center did not respond to a request for comment by Forbes.


Chief critics

Democratic Rep. Gene Wu tweeted “we’re at the edge of a cliff” after Texas Medical Center shared its ICU bed update Thursday. Republican Sen. John Cornyn countered Wu, citing that 27% of the ICU’s beds were occupied by coronavirus patients—while the rest were filled with patients there for other reasons—and that Wu should “stop trying to scare people.”

Key background

Texas has been setting daily record highs of new coronavirus hospitalizations, while reporting multiple consecutive days of new record case highs. On Wednesday, 11 Texas Medical Center executives issued a statement that warned facilities could become “overwhelmed,” before toning down their rhetoric Thursday—as Abbott ordered a pause for elective surgeries and the ICU bed data was released. Marc Boom, president of Houston Medical, a Texas Medical Center hospital, said in a Thursday news conference that “We clearly do have capacity” and that “by talking about capacity,” the medical center “ended up unintentionally sounding an alarm bell too loudly.”

Further reading

Texas Medical Center quietly removes ICU data from website after reporting beds were full (Washington Post)

Houston ICU capacity could soon be exceeded as COVID-19 hospitalizations worsen, TMC projects (Houston Chronicle)

Gov. Greg Abbott pauses Texas’ reopening, bans elective surgeries in four counties to preserve bed space for coronavirus patients (Texas Tribune)

Texas Has Set A New Coronavirus Hospitalization Record Every Day For 2 Weeks (Forbes)

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