UCHealth adds dozens of ICU beds in preparation of COVID surge

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Hoping for the best and preparing for the worst -- that's what UCHealth Memorial Hospital's leaders are doing heading into the heart of December in the midst of the pandemic.

Over the past several weeks, UCHealth has rented dozens of new ICU beds, and just last week the hospital received a shipment of 30 new beds.

UCHealth Memorial says they are preparing for an anticipated surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Since November, the hospital has been over capacity several times, and expect the trend to continue.

"We anticipate after some seasonal travel for the holidays to see an incubation period," said Mark Mayes the Associate chief nursing officer at UCHealth Memorial. "Then a hospitalization period after that."

Mayes says when it comes to capacity at UCHealth, he is confident in the amount of space they have as well as their equipment such as beds, respirators, etc. The most difficult capacity issue they have is staffing.

"We have a contingency plan for our staffing," said Mayes. "We are using nurses that have not been at the bedside. So maybe nurses that have worked a quality, patient safety job, chart review, or an office job and have them at the bedside for a while. So we redeploy those nurses. We are also able to redeploy our surgical nurses."

Fortunately when it comes to space for new ICU units at UCHealth, Mayes says they are lucky.

"Memorial Central's campus had some space that wasn't being used," said Mayes. "In normal pre-COVID times they weren't being staffed or equipped."