Froedtert Hospital System Says Its Beds Are Filling With COVID-19 Patients

MILWAUKEE, WI — Froedtert Hospital's president announced Tuesday that all facilities in the hospital system are strained after an influx of COVID-19 patients, many of whom were not vaccinated against the disease.

"We are at full, period," Eric Conley, president of Froedtert Hospital, said in a Zoom call with other Wisconsin health care leaders. The hospital had nearly 13 percent of its hospital beds in use by coronavirus patients, while community hospitals have nearly 40 percent of beds occupied. Nearly 33 ICU beds are in use for COVID-19 patients.

Around 88 percent of COVID-19 patients in Froedtert's hospitals aren't fully vaccinated, and Conley said the surge of patients being treated for the virus is impeding care for non-COVID-19 patients.

Hospital officials say the influx of virus hospitalizations was preventable, as vaccination continues to be the safest and most effective way to prevent severe COVID-19, Froedtert spokesperson Gerry Steele told Patch.

The hospital system and its emergency departments are still open and people are encouraged to not wait if they need care, Steele added.

There were a total of 1,630 COVID-19 patients in hospitals across Wisconsin on Tuesday, data from the Wisconsin Hospital Association showed.

The delta variant is the most dominant COVID-19 variant in the state and health officials credit the delta variant, in combination with people not being fully vaccinated, for fueling the surge of COVID-19 cases taking up beds in local hospitals.

The omicron variant, which health officials suspect is highly transmissible, appeared in Wisconsin on Saturday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there isn't enough data to tell if the new variant causes more severe illness or risk of death.

Vaccination has been effective against every variant Wisconsin has seen so far and will likely have good protection against the omicron variant as well, Dr. Ben Weston of the Medical College of Wisconsin said. Getting vaccination, in combination with a booster six months after, is "the best way to prepare and to protect yourselves and your families."