Overlook Medical Center Sees Decline In COVID Hospitalizations

SUMMIT, NJ — As COVID cases are on the decline across New Jersey, Summit's Overlook Medical Center is experiencing a decrease in hospitalizations.

The number of beds occupied by COVID-19 patients at Overlook have decreased as of Feb. 3, demonstrating an improvement from the spike in hospitalizations during the omicron variant surge.

In mid-January, 23 percent of adult inpatient beds at Overlook were occupied by confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients, and 11 percent of ICU beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients, according to the University of Minnesota's COVID-19 Hospitalization Tracking Project.

The ratio of COVID-19 hospitalizations to total beds provides insight into how much strain a hospital is under.

Hospital ratios are concerning when they rise above 10 percent. Anything above 20 percent represents "extreme stress" for the hospital — according to a framework developed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

Here is where Overlook Medical Center stands as of Feb. 3:

Overlook Medical Center

• adult inpatient beds use: 55 percent
• adult ICU beds used: 34 percent
• adult inpatient beds used by COVID-19 patients: 8 percent
• adult ICU beds used by COVID-19 patients: 9 percent

Hospitalizations have decreased across Atlantic Health System's facilities as a whole. Besides Overlook, these hospitals include Morristown Medical Center, Newton Medical Center, Chilton Medical Center in Pompton Plains and Hackettstown Medical Center.

In a recent update, Atlantic Health encouraged people to get the booster shot.

"It's the booster shot that keeps you out of the hospital and keeps you alive in this phase of the pandemic," Dr. Steven Sheris, Atlantic Health's chief physician executive, said in a video released Feb. 2.

You can watch Atlantic Health's full update on YouTube:

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