Metro Milwaukee Needs More Hospital Beds, Study Says

MILWAUKEE, WI — As the new coronavirus, COVID-19, spreads statewide, Wisconsin health officials are warning of an impending surge in cases. The spike in infected persons could lead to shortages of medical equipment and hospital beds, officials warned.

According to a new study by Pro Publica, if 40 percent of the adult population in the metro Milwaukee area contracts the disease over 12 months, Milwaukee would be among the regions that would need to significantly expand capacity.

"We have evidence of community spread in Milwaukee, Dane, and Kenosha counties. This means that there are people who have tested positive, and it is unknown what their exposures have been. They have had no exposures to a known case and have not traveled to a location where there is community transmission," Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm said Tuesday afternoon during a press briefing.

According to a Wisconsin Public Radio report, as of March 13," with many of Milwaukee County’s hospital beds already at capacity, officials here are attempting to get ahead of COVID-19 to help prevent the spread."

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From ProPublica:

As of 2018, Milwaukee, had 5,260 total hospital beds, of which about 57 percent were occupied, potentially leaving only 2,210 beds open for additional patients. The bed count includes 820 beds in intensive care units, according to data from the American Hospital Association and the American Hospital Directory. Intensive care units are best equipped to handle the most acute coronavirus cases.

The Milwaukee metro area has a population of about 2.7 million residents; 14 percent are over the age of 65. The experience in other countries has shown that elderly patients have significantly higher hospitalization and fatality rates from the coronavirus.

In the moderate scenario, in which 40 percent of the adult population contracts the disease over 12 months, Milwaukee would be among the regions that would need to expand capacity.
It is estimated that about 8 percent of the adult population would require hospital care.

In a moderate scenario where 40 percent of the population is infected over a 12-month period, hospitals in Milwaukee would receive an estimated 172,000 coronavirus patients. The influx of patients would require 5,750 beds over 12 months, which is 2.6 available beds in that time period.

The Harvard researchers' scenarios assume that each coronavirus patient will require 12 days of hospital care on average, based on data from China.

In the Milwaukee metro area, intensive care units would be especially overwhelmed and require additional capacity. Without coronavirus patients, there are only 320 available beds on average in intensive care units, which is 3.8 times less than what is needed to care for all severe cases.

ProPublica, a Patch Partner, is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power and other public concerns. Click here to see ProPublica's full story and specifics about hospitals in your area.