State health officials do not appear particularly concerned that nearly 90 percent of I-C-U beds in the metro area are in use — swelled by COVID cases plus resumption of high-priority medical procedures. State Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm indicates officials have a good idea of possible surge capacity around Minnesota’s health care system “and mechanisms in place to… taking a really system-wide approach to this, and helping to place patients where there is available care on an immediate basis.”
State officials haven’t said how soon it might be necessary to send metro area COVID patients to hospitals elsewhere in Minnesota, or whether they’ll have to activate alternate care sites for overflow of non-COVID cases.