The COVID-19 Omicron surge has left some local hospitals few or no intensive care beds.
Adventist Health Simi Valley was filled to 100 percent capacity in intensive care unit beds in the week ending Dec. 30, according to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center in Thousand Oaks also felt the surge, reporting a 96 percent ICU occupancy rate.
Other local hospitals that reported ICU occupancy of 90 percent or more included Northridge Hospital Medical Center, Providence-Cedars Sinai Tarzana Medical Center, Encino Hospital Medical Center and Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.
However, there also remained a significant amount of local hospitals that reported capacity of less than 75 percent, including Pacifica Hospital of the Valley, Mission Community Hospital, West Hills Hospital and Medical Center, Valley Presbyterian Hospital and Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills Medical Center, which is at 31 percent capacity.
Several hospitals declined to comment.
Although COVID-19 cases are at an all-time high, hospitalizations are relatively lower than they were during the last surge that occurred in December 2020 and January 2021.
At one point during last year’s surge, the lowest number of ICU beds available for the entire state was 1,030. Several hospitals in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley reached full capacity around that time according to the state Department of Public Health.
As of Jan. 4, California had 1,651 available ICU beds, although the number has been decreasing following the holidays.