Horry hospital beds 90% full during omicron surge, leaving staff ‘emotionally drained’
Hospitals in the Myrtle Beach area are again facing the demand of a worrisome surge in COVID-19 cases driven largely by the fast-spreading omicron variant.
Hospital bed occupancy has reached 92.2% in Horry County, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), and positive tests are being recorded at a higher rate than at most points throughout the pandemic. In total, 701 hospital beds are in Horry County, 646 of which were occupied as of Thursday. COVID-19 patients make up 91 of the beds across the county.
In comparison, the delta variant’s surge last year pushed hospital bed occupancy to nearly 93%, leaving fewer than 50 beds available.
Across South Carolina, more than 29% of people tested since Jan. 1 have been positive for the virus, according to DHEC. Conway Medical Center administered around 500 tests Wednesday, both inpatient and outpatient. Of those, more than one-third of people tested positive, according to spokesperson Allyson Floyd.
Local doctors stress that the omicron variant is sweeping the Myrtle Beach area and the country, but it appears to cause less severe illness than previous variants like the delta variant, which plagued the county in the late summer and early fall of 2021.
While the positivity rate and overall caseload during this surge is concerning, hospitalizations haven’t risen at the same rate, according to Conway Medical Center chief medical officer Dr. Paul Richardson. That’s heartening, Richardson said, but the level of spread in the community is a red flag.
“We literally have gone from zero to 60 in just a few days,” Richardson said. “What that tells me is this is a very contagious virus because we have really ramped up the positivity (rate).”
Conway Medical Center had 17 COVID-19 inpatients Thursday, three of which were fully vaccinated. Seven patients were in the intensive care unit, and two were on ventilators, according to Floyd. Tidelands Health recorded 33 inpatients with COVID-19 Thursday, with a roughly 50-50 split between vaccinated and unvaccinated patients, according to Dr. Gerald Harmon, vice president of medical affairs.
COVID cases are hitting hospital staff hard, just like the general public, leaving hospitals to reschedule procedures and shift work hours of their employees. While neither Tidelands Health or Conway Medical Center have canceled or postponed elective surgeries due to an influx of COVID-19 patients, more extreme mitigation measures could be coming soon if the surge persists. Tidelands has already brought in medics from the National Guard to assist staff this week.
“Not only among doctors, but I see the respiratory therapists, the nurses, the pharmacists, the technicians, the laboratory specialists, all of them are getting emotionally drained,” Harmon said. “It’s ‘Oh no, here we go again.’”
Vaccinated patients generally fair better than unvaccinated patients, requiring fewer resources and extreme measures to manage their care, Richardson said. But while being fully vaccinated is important, getting a booster shot contributes an added level of protection, especially against the omicron variant, according to Harmon.
“Get a booster please,” Harmon said. “They’re available, they don’t cost anything except your time. They’re incredibly safe.”
This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 9:40 AM.
