Utah’s Spiking COVID Cases Taking a Toll on State’s Hospitals; Intermountain Doctors to Address Impact & Options on COVID Community Update

The impact of spiking COVID cases in Utah is beginning to take a toll on Utah’s hospitals and caregivers.

On Thursday, the Utah Department of Health again reported a large number of new COVID cases – 1,243 – with hospitalizations continuing to rise. In the past several days, ICUs and acute care units at Intermountain Healthcare hospitals have exceeded 100 percent capacity. On Thursday, patient volumes were at 102 percent in Intermountain’s ICUs and 100 percent in acute care units.

As a result, Intermountain Is reviewing all options to ensure patients receive the best care possible, including potentially delaying non-emergency procedures and implementing stricter visitation policies.

As hospital volumes increase, caregivers are reporting they’re tired and fatigued to once again be faced with high patient volumes that include not only COVID patients, but also trauma patients and patients who’re receiving regular, non-COVID care.

Caregivers are reporting that the majority of hospitalized COVID patients have not been vaccinated.

To see a recording of today’s COVID Community Update, please see Intermountain’s Facebook page, featuring Dr. Eddie Stenehjem, Intermountain Healthcare Infectious Diseases Physician. 


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