A patient with COVID-19 died Wednesday while waiting for an intensive care unit bed at Mercy Health Hospital in Roseburg.
The Medical Center said the patient was in their Emergency Department and the ICU was full with other COVID patients. They had expanded the ICU to other floors but were unable to find space for the patient.
Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer is Douglas County Public Health Officer.
“Our concern is that more people are entering the hospital than leaving the hospital,” Dannenhoffer said. “And unfortunately, one of the most common ways people are leaving the hospital is to die. We had four deaths today. Which freed up four beds but that is not the way we want to make space in the hospital.”
The Medical Center last week announced it was canceling elective surgeries because of the surge in COVID patients.
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