A batch of newly released government data shows just how quickly McLean County’s second wave of COVID-19 hit Bloomington-Normal’s two hospitals.
Monday was the first time the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the COVID-19 hospital data it collects at the facility level. Carle BroMenn Medical Center in Normal began to share detailed COVID data in mid-November. OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington has never publicly shared such data, although the McLean County Health Department’s daily hospitalization data provides a communitywide view of overall capacity and ICU bed use.
Now, all that data—available for each week back to July—is available to view. It’s the most detailed picture to date of how COVID is stressing individual hospitals. NPR has a national analysis of the data.
Locally, it shows the number of COVID patients at St. Joseph and Carle BroMenn tripling between the end of September and Thanksgiving, from 22 to 66.
Hospital Data - McLean County
Infogram
There are about 32 ICU beds in Bloomington-Normal—20 at St. Joseph, 12 at Carle BroMenn—according to the federal data. About 23 of those beds were in use at the end of November, although not all of those patients were confirmed or suspected COVID, the data show.
Despite their unique care demands, COVID patients represented less than half of those hospitalized in Bloomington-Normal at the end of November. About 66 confirmed or suspected COVID patients were hospitalized, out of 235 inpatient beds being used, the data show.
The data also offers a partial look at how many possible COVID patients are showing up to Bloomington-Normal emergency rooms. At St. Joseph Medical Center, that jumped from about eight people per day in August to 18 at the end of November, the data show. Comparable data for Carle BroMenn was not immediately available.
COVID’s strain on local hospitals has been well-known for weeks. The McLean County Health Department started publicly reporting hospital capacity data on Nov. 13.
As of Monday, about 77% of local ICU beds are in use, and 88% of overall beds are in use. (Exact comparisons of datasets are difficult because of semantic problems between them. For example, the definition of “available bed” can vary. Sometimes this number means “beds that are properly staffed” and sometimes this means “the number of literal beds.”)
Of course, a person from McLean County can be hospitalized elsewhere, and someone living elsewhere can be hospitalized here. The Illinois Department of Public Health shares regional hospitalization data. As of Sunday, just 15.2% of ICU beds in Region 2 (which includes McLean County) were available, below the warning threshold of 20%. Regionwide, 21.8% of overall hospital beds are available, still above the threshold.
There's no subscription fee to listen or read our stories. Everyone can access this essential public service thanks to community support. Donate now, and help fund your public media.
