<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1604690551401.png" alt="Steve Stites, the chief medical officer for the University of Kansas Health System, says the number of COVID-19 patients who need to be hospitalized has increased exponentially, putting hospitals in the Kansas City area in danger of not being able to treat patients. (Screenshot from virtual news briefing/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Steve Stites, the chief medical officer for the University of Kansas Health System, says the number of COVID-19 patients who need to be hospitalized has increased exponentially, putting hospitals in the Kansas City area in danger of not being able to treat patients. (Screenshot from virtual news briefing/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By SHERMAN SMITH <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/11/06/hospitals-near-breaking-point-as-covid-19-patients-multiply/">Kansas Reflector</a>As Steve Stites, the chief
 medical officer for the University of Kansas Health System, tried to 
get the message out Friday that hospital resources are more scarce than 
previously thought, he began to pound his desk.Kansas City area hospitals
 are approaching the point where they will have to choose they provide 
care to, he said, because there isn’t enough staff to care for the 
continuously rising number of COVID-19 patients. Hospitals have had to 
refuse transfers of COVID-19 patients from the state’s rural areas, he 
said, which also have run out of space.“At our institution, now, 
COVID is the leading admission diagnosis,” Stites said. “I mean, a year 
ago, there was nothing. And now it is the leading reason to come in the 
hospital.”He began to emphasis his 
words with the drumming of his fist: “Not cancer, not heart attack, not 
heart failure, not COPD or emphysema. The No. 1 reason is COVID. Well, 
that’s a big change for us. And we’re headed right smack into the cold 
and other flu season, etc. We know this is always when hospital capacity
 is stretched. It’s not unusual for us to be full this time of the year.
 But now we’ve got 10 to 15% more patients from just one disease.”Health officials from 
private and public entities, local and state, have struggled for months 
to get more of the public to take preventative measures seriously. The 
consequences are dire.The Kansas Department for 
Health and Environment on Friday said 79 deaths and 5,418 new infections
 had been reported since its last update, two days ago.KDHE’s online dashboard 
shows 33% of intensive care unit beds remain available across the state,
 including 36% in Kansas City. But health officials say the actual 
number of available beds is much lower because hospitals lack the staff 
to care for more patients.At one point this week, 
there were 32 empty ICU beds at 11 Kansas City area hospitals, but KU 
Health said the number that could actually be staffed was just 22. 
Stites said within the KU Health System there were 277 patients 
hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Monday. By Friday, the number was 318 
“and climbing.”Hospital officials are 
looking to delay surgeries and extend workloads for nurses in 
anticipation that the pandemic will continue to get exponentially worse.David Wild, vice president
 of performance improvement for KU Health, said it wasn’t clear how long
 it would take before hospitals no longer have the resources to treat 
new patients.“Is it tomorrow? No, I don’t think so,” Wild said. “Could it be? Well, maybe. But it’s more likely weeks.”In a separate briefing, 
Shawnee County health officials sounded similar alarms about 
overstressed hospitals and uncontrolled community transmission of 
COVID-19.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1604690610487.png" alt="Gianfranco Pezzino, the Shawnee County health officer, said the potential for the pandemic to worsen depends on the community’s willingness to make some sacrifices. (Screenshot from virtual briefing/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Gianfranco Pezzino, the Shawnee County health officer, said the potential for the pandemic to worsen depends on the community’s willingness to make some sacrifices. (Screenshot from virtual briefing/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>Gianfranco Pezzino, the 
Shawnee County health officer, said the past two weeks have been the 
worst of the pandemic to date. Last week, the county saw a 70.4% 
increase in cases and the percent that tested positive nearly doubled, 
from 5.4% to 10.7%, exceeding all previous marks. There were so many new
 cases, health officials are unable to do contact tracing for some of 
them. Of the new infections, health officials have no idea how 82% 
acquired their infections.Topeka hospitals were at 81.7% capacity, Pezzino said, but actual space was far less because of staffing limitations.“I can tell you today 
there was a hospital with only one ICU bed available,” Pezzino said. “I 
don’t know you, but that gives me chills. It’s just like being one car 
wreck away on I-70 from a major crisis, because you don’t have ICU beds 
or acute care beds to put patients.”He stressed the importance
 to consider not just mass gatherings but a multitude of other ways the 
virus is commonly spread: sleepovers, birthday parties, weddings, 
funerals, Halloween, family reunions, tailgate parties, car shows, 
business meetings, trade conventions, sports events.“You get the idea,” he 
said. “Every situation that brings two or three people, or you know a 
certain number of people, together is a risk for the transmission.”He said he wouldn’t be surprised if the numbers continue to get worse, and that “it doesn’t need to be like this.”“It will depend in large 
part, once again, on the extent to which his community and its leaders 
are willing to make some more sacrifices now to prevent more problems in
 the future,” Pezzino said.Sherman Smith has written award-winning news stories about the instability of the Kansas foster care system, misconduct by government officials, sexual abuse, technology, education, and the Legislature.

Kan. hospitals near breaking point as COVID-19 patients multiply