September 4, 2021 - ICU Capacity in San Joaquin Valley Region Triggers Hospital Surge Order.
San Joaquin Valley Region ICU Capacity
In accordance with the Public Health Order on Hospital and Health Care System Surge, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) publishes regional and statewide ICU capacity data on its website daily.
The San Joaquin Valley Region has met the threshold to enter surge protocols. It is the first region in the state to trigger the Public Health Order. Counties within the region include: Calaveras, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Benito, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Tuolumne.
The regional threshold is triggered when a region has less than 10% of staffed adult ICU beds available for a period of three consecutive days. For at least the next seven days, hospitals in the San Joaquin Valley Region must adhere to the following:
- All general acute care hospitals in the county who do have ICU bed capacity must accept transfer patients when clinically appropriate and directed by the Medical and Health Operational Area Coordinator (MHOAC).
- All general acute care hospitals in the region who do have ICU bed capacity must accept transfer patients when clinically appropriate and directed by the Regional Disaster Medical Health Specialist (RDMHS).
- If there is no ICU bed capacity within the region, then all general acute care hospital in the State of California must accept transfer patients when clinically appropriate and directed by the California Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) Director or designee.
The state has learned from previous increases in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations that coordination at the local, regional, and statewide level is the best course of action. While the state works to further increase the number of eligible Californians vaccinated, we must take steps to protect the unvaccinated who are more at risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19. This action will ensure the state's health care delivery system is prepared and can respond appropriately.
The San Joaquin Valley Region will be reevaluated on September 9.
Source: CDPH
