GREEN BAY, Wis (NBC 26) -- On Friday, the Chief Medical Officer from the Aurora BayCare Medical Center discussed the surging cases of COVID-19 in northeastern Wisconsin, which is one of the nation's worst hotbeds for the virus.
Currently, the Wisconsin Hospital Association reports there are 907 people hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state. As it stands, according to WHA's data, there are 202 intensive care unit beds available for patients across the state.
"On September 7th there were 289 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Wisconsin and in just one month that number has nearly tripled," said Governor Tony Evers on Wednesday.
The surging spread of COVID-19 in northeast Wisconsin has become a growing concern for many hospitals, some of which are the verge of capacity limits. Dr. Brian Johnson, the Chief Medical Officer of Aurora BayCare Medical Center says many patients are filling beds with other medical issues as well though.
"it does seem like we're seeing, at this time at least, less of a percentage of ICU sick COVID-19 patients as compared to earlier in the pandemic."
Dr. Johnson says his staff is preparing for the continued surge of patients, by bringing in nursing staff from Milwaukee and parts of Illinois.
"This might sound odd, but honestly, I'm happy we didn't have this type of surge in March or April when we were just putting our surge plan together."
Aurora leaders say they are prepared to handle more patients, and they are discovering that by offering care earlier rather than later they can also have better outcomes.
"I do feel like we have a better treatment that helps alleviate symptoms and shorten the length of stay and potentially the severity of the illness," says Johnson.
For now, Dr. Johnson can't pinpoint why northeast Wisconsin residents are contracting the virus at such a rapid rate compared to much of the country.
"Wish I knew the answer to that question. I've thought about, we have talked about it, among colleagues."
He says that the continued message of hand washing, social distancing, avoiding crowds, and mask-wearing, for now, appears to be the best line of defense for northeastern Wisconsin.
"I really think that if we key in on those few easy things, for me, that we can get a handle on this," says Johnson.
