Texas Children's Hospital will now accept adult patients
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Texas Children's Hospital is taking adult patients, some of whom have tested positive for COVID-19.
This comes as Harris County and surrounding hospitals started seeing more cases, more hospitalizations and fewer beds available.
According to the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council, or SETRAC, more than 28 percent of ICU beds are filled by COVID-19 patients.
"The growth of COVID-19 cases in our ICUs does not show any sign of slowing down," said SETRAC CEO Darrell Pile.
SETRAC said the beds that are available could fill up soon.
"The likelihood of that growth happening with just COVID-19 alone is quite high," said Pile.
Texas Children's has now stepped in to help. They are taking transfers from other hospitals to open up space for those hospitals.
The patients are both adults and children. If the adult transfer has COVID-19, they will be cared for in the Texas Children's Hospitals expanded special isolation unit.
"Having a hospital like Texas Children's Hospital make room for adult patients is tremendous. We are at a point with some hospitals where they were wondering where they would find more beds, and that situation is just going to worsen," said Pile.
The hospital released a statement to ABC13 Tuesday morning:
Texas Children's is admitting adult patients. Texas Children's Hospital, our employees, medical staff and leadership team continue to carefully monitor the ongoing active transmission and increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the greater Houston area and across the State. We are committed to doing our part to assist the city as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise. Specifically, Texas Children's is committed to providing additional capacity through ICU and acute care beds across our hospital campuses to take on both pediatric and adult patients. We know COVID-19 has not gone away. We implore you to take responsible actions - practice appropriate social distancing, wear a mask or face covering anytime you leave your home, wash your hands frequently for at least 20 seconds, and avoid touching your face.
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