Read on Twitter
A thread about bed capacity.
Many people are asking how Alberta hospitals can be struggling with COVID when we have 8515 acute care beds and only 453 people in hospital. 8515 beds sound like a lot. Its not.
Many people are asking how Alberta hospitals can be struggling with COVID when we have 8515 acute care beds and only 453 people in hospital. 8515 beds sound like a lot. Its not.
The WHO recommends a ratio of 5 hospital beds per 1000 population for best outcomes. In the 1970s Canada had almost 7. Today in Alberta, that ratio is 2 per 1000. Why does that matter?
Most large referral hospitals run at or over capacity at any given time. Thats why, when you get admitted to hospital, you may wait hours to days to get a bed upstairs. You literally have to wait for someone else to go home.
In layman's terms, pre- Covid we were $200 from bankruptcy and Covid just raised our rent.
Now we are facing a novel virus to which the whole population is susceptible. Yes, most people who get Covid won't die, but 5 percent of people who do, need hospital care. Add that to already strained systems and the hospital is overwhelmed.
When large urban referral centers are full, everyone's care suffers. There might be beds in Two Hills,but that doesn't help you in a car http://crash.You can't get a lung transplant in Grande Prairie. So please, stay home if you're sick, wear a mask, and wash your hands.
