Cleveland Clinic Running Out Of Beds Due To COVID-19 Surge

CLEVELAND — One of Ohio's largest hospital systems — the Cleveland Clinic — is nearing capacity because of the current COVID-19 surge.

The hospital system said a large influx of unvaccinated patients has left few available beds at their facilities. There are currently 786 COVID-19-positive patients in Cleveland Clinic hospitals and 218 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units, the hospital system said on social media. That's among the most COVID-19 patients the Cleveland Clinic has ever seen at one time.

"The vast majority [of COVID-19 patients} are unvaccinated," the hospital system said.

The Ohio Hospital Association said one in four hospitalized patients in Northeast Ohio are COVID-19 positive, and one in three patients in intensive care units have tested positive for the virus. There are currently 1,104 hospitalized Northeast Ohioans with COVID-19, the association said.

The Cleveland Clinic has already delayed nonessential surgeries to preserve hospital space for patients. All qualifying surgeries have been postponed through at least Friday.

"We continue to urge our communities to take precautions and receive their COVID-19 vaccine, as the majority of our patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated," the hospital system said in a statement after postponing surgeries.