SAN DIEGO (AP) — California hospitals are facing increasingly difficult decisions about which services to postpone amid a crushing load of coronavirus patients.
Intensive-care beds are full in Southern California and the Central Valley, and hospitals elsewhere are nearing capacity.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has yet to threaten the type of shutdown of elective surgeries that occurred in March and April. But some health care professionals and patient advocates are trying to quell any possibility, telling him in a letter it will it lead to bad outcomes for patients.
Meantime, hospitals are doing what they can to create space. At UC San Diego Health, COVID-19 has delayed treatment for more than 30 patients in the last three months, mostly orthopedic procedures.
