Hospital executives put out ‘desperate call’ asking people to avoid holiday gatherings
Coronavirus cases continue to surge up and down the state. Top executives from California’s largest hospital systems put out a “desperate call” on Tuesday asking people to avoid gathering over the Christmas holiday.
Their message: “Don’t share your air.” Hospitals statewide are imploring the public to stay away from people from other households, which many failed to do at Thanksgiving.
“This surge is beyond what anybody could have imagined. If people continue to gather for the upcoming holidays, we are going to cripple our hospital system,” said Pravin Acharya, MD, Kaiser Permanente.
“I’m doing all this work here for your family and your friends. And some people don’t take it seriously out there. Sometimes it feels like a slap in the face,” said Hans Vega, RN, Dignity Health.
The CEO of Kaiser Permanente also came out Tuesday and said, “We simply will not be able to keep up if the covid surge continues to increase. We’re at or near capacity everywhere.”
The state reported more than 32,000 newly confirmed cases on Tuesday alone and another 653 patients were admitted to hospitals. That’s one of the biggest single-day hospitalization jumps so far in the pandemic.
State data models predict nearly 106,000 hospitalizations in a month if nothing changes.
"The biggest thing that we want to stress is if we do our part now, there will be more of us available and alive to share the holidays with next year. So we are asking you please help us, so that we can continue to deliver care to everybody who walks through our doors," said Vanessa Walker, Valley Area ICU Medical Director, Sutter Health.
