Stillwater Medical Center ICU capacity hits zero as COVID patients flood the hospital

STILLWATER, OK (KOKH) — The growing number of COVID-19 patients at Stillwater Medical Center has pushed the hospital’s capacity past its limits.

"It’s full. It’s more than full," said Hospital Board Member and Stillwater Mayor, Will Joyce.

Friday afternoon the hospital revealed an overall capacity for intensive care unit and COVID-19 unit beds dropped past zero. One patient in need of a bed forced to wait in the emergency room until one becomes available.

"It is a dire situation," warned Joyce.

The graph above shows just how severe the increase in coronavirus patients has been over the past few months. Joyce says December's numbers are expected to be even worse.

"We’re talking about a hospital running 50% more than its normal daily census and running more than 100% more than what ICU capacity," said Joyce.

Turning to desperate measures, Joyce says the hospital is even working to rip up the carpet in one of its conference rooms to make more space for ER beds.

Meanwhile, concerns about how the hospital will handle the possibility of a post-holiday surge are looming.

"I’m afraid it’s going to get worse before it gets better,'" says Joyce, "We’ve got to get these numbers down and we’ve got to get some relief to our hospitals."