BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Sanford Health is opening a new COVID-19 unit in Bismarck, a move the hospital’s president called a “wake-up call” as beds become increasingly scarce because of the explosion of coronavirus cases in the state.
The 20-bed unit at the former Bismarck Surgical Associates building is expected to open next week, according to the health care system.
President Michael LeBeau said the $1 million facility is part of Sanford’s ‘surge’ plan.
“It is a wake-up call for us, and I think it should be a wake-up call for the community that the delivery of care is starting to get outside the norm,” LeBeau told the Bismarck Tribune.
North Dakota has seen record numbers of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in recent weeks. Sanford had only two available beds on Wednesday, and none in intensive care, according to state health data. However, LeBeau said the numbers can change “almost hourly.”
Statewide, there were only 179 available inpatient beds and 12 intensive care unit beds in North Dakota hospitals on Wednesday according to state data.
State health officials reported Wednesday that there were 297 people in North Dakota hospitalized with COVID-19, which was seven fewer than on Tuesday.
The state reported 16 new coronavirus-related deaths, increasing its death toll since the pandemic started to 785. The death count is the eighth highest per capita in the nation, at 102 deaths per 100,000 people.
North Dakota continued to rank first in the country for new cases per capita in the last two weeks. One in every 79 people in the state tested positive in the past week, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers.
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