Critical care beds in Northwest Georgia hospitals running low as coronavirus spreads across state

Nurse Manager Betsy Ross inspects a patient room Monday, July 20, 2020, inside the mobile COVID-19 unit at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, Ga. The unit, constructed from modular buildings by the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency went into operation Tuesday, July 21, 2020, amid high numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations across the state. (Scott Rogers/The Gainesville Times via AP) Nurse Manager Betsy Ross inspects a patient room Monday, July 20, 2020, inside the mobile COVID-19 unit at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, Ga. The unit, constructed from modular buildings by the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency went into operation Tuesday, July 21, 2020, amid high numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations across the state. (Scott Rogers/The Gainesville Times via AP)

By Patrick Filbin July 23, 2020 3 min read

The need for critical care beds in Northwest Georgia is increasing as the coronavirus continues to spread in the state.

As of Thursday, there were 11 critical care beds available in a nine-county region in Northwest Georgia.

The Georgia Department of Public Health splits the state up into 14 different hospital regions. In Region A – which includes Dade, Walker, Catoosa, Whitfield, Murray, Gordon, Fannin, Gilmer and Pickens counties – the number of critical care beds can fluctuate. On average, the number can range between 45 and 50.

The state reported Wednesday that 39 critical care beds were being used out of a total of 46, or 85%. That meant seven critical care beds were available, the lowest number of available ICU beds in the region in months.

Overnight, the region’s capacity increased by three ICU beds. On Thursday, the state reported 38 of 49 critical care beds were in use.