The Texas Tribune
AND KAREN BROOKS HARPER / THE TEXAS TRIBUNE
As the highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19 spreads and sends unvaccinated Texans to the hospital with serious illness, hospitals are under enormous pressure to make room for growing numbers of patients.
Each week, hospitals in Texas report their current ICU bed capacity to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Here is the latest situation between Friday, Aug. 13, and Thursday, Aug. 19:
Hospital staff has never been in shorter supply, which deepens the strain on all departments, including emergency rooms, respiratory therapy and even labor and delivery. Without the capacity to take on new patients — and equally thin resources elsewhere to transfer them to — doctors fear they’ll have to start making heartbreaking decisions about care in order to save the most lives possible.
According to the federal government, the weekly ICU capacity numbers should not discourage patients from seeking medical care in these facilities. “Hospitals have protocols in place to keep patients safe from exposure and to ensure all patients are prioritized for care,” the agency said in December.
ICU capacity at hospitals in Houston between Friday, Aug. 13, and Thursday, Aug. 19:
Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital
18220 Tomball Parkway
Houston, TX 77070
100%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 31 ICU beds were occupied with 0 staffed ICU beds available in the last week
Houston Methodist West Hospital
18500 Katy Freeway
Houston, TX 77094
100%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 23 ICU beds were occupied with 0 staffed ICU beds available in the last week
HCA Houston Healthcare Medical Center
1313 Hermann Dr.
Houston, TX 77004
100%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 20 ICU beds were occupied with 0 staffed ICU beds available in the last week
St. Luke’s Hospital at The Vintage
20171 Chasewood Park Drive
Houston, TX 77070
100%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 13 ICU beds were occupied with 0 staffed ICU beds available in the last week
HCA Houston Healthcare Northwest
710 Cypress Creek Parkway
Houston, TX 77090
100%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 39 ICU beds were occupied with 0 staffed ICU beds available in the last week
Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center
6411 Fannin
Houston, TX 77030
99.8%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 130 ICU beds were occupied with 0.3 staffed ICU beds available in the last
week
Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center
921 Gessner
Houston, TX 77024
99.7%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 63 ICU beds were occupied with 0.2 staffed ICU beds available in the last week
Harris Health System
2525 Holly Hall
Houston, TX 77054
99.5%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 84 ICU beds were occupied with 0.4 staffed ICU beds available in the last week
St. Joseph Medical Center
1401 St. Joseph Parkway
Houston, TX 77002
99%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 22 ICU beds were occupied with 0.3 staffed ICU beds available in the last week
Houston Methodist Hospital
6565 Fannin
Houston, TX 77030
98%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 151 ICU beds were occupied with 4 staffed ICU beds available in the last week
Memorial Hermann Hospital System
1635 North Loop West
Houston, TX 77008
96%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 139 ICU beds were occupied with 5 staffed ICU beds available in the last week
Kindred Hospital Houston Medical Center
6441 Main St.
Houston, TX 77030
96%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 9 ICU beds were occupied with 0.4 staffed ICU beds available in the last week
Kindred Hospital
11297 Fallbrook
Houston, TX 77065
95%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 11 ICU beds were occupied with 1 staffed ICU bed available in the last week
HCA Houston Healthcare West
12141 Richmond Ave.
Houston, TX 77082
86%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 21 ICU beds were occupied with 3 staffed ICU beds available in the last week
United Memorial Medical Center
510 W. Tidwell
Houston, TX 77091
86%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 14 ICU beds were occupied with 2 staffed ICU beds available in the last week
Chi St. Luke’s Health Baylor College of Medicine
6720 Bertner
Houston, TX 77030
84%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 106 ICU beds were occupied with 20 staffed ICU beds available in the last week
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
1515 Holcombe Blvd.
Houston, TX 77030
57%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 31 ICU beds were occupied with 24 staffed ICU beds available in the last week
Cornerstone Specialty Hospitals Houston Medical Center
1300 Binz
Houston, TX 77004
45%
of ICU beds were occupied
An average of 11 ICU beds were occupied with 14 staffed ICU beds available in the last week
Texas Childrens Hospital
6621 Fannin Street
Houston, TX 77030
Note: HHS redacted numbers from this hospital because it reported fewer than four staffed ICU beds, fewer than four patients occupying ICU beds or both
Tops Surgical Specialty Hospital
17080 Red Oak Drive
Houston, TX 77090
Note: HHS redacted numbers from this hospital because it reported fewer than four staffed ICU beds, fewer than four patients occupying ICU beds or both.
The Heights Hospital
1917 Ashland Street, Suite 300
Houston, TX 77008
Note: HHS redacted numbers from this hospital because it reported fewer than four staffed ICU beds, fewer than four patients occupying ICU beds or both.
The Woman’s Hospital of Texas
7600 Fannin
Houston, TX 77054
Note: HHS redacted numbers from this hospital because it reported fewer than four staffed ICU beds, fewer than four patients occupying ICU beds or both.
Ad Hospital East, LLC
12950 East Freeway, Suite 100
Houston, TX 77015
Note: HHS redacted numbers from this hospital because it reported fewer than four staffed ICU beds, fewer than four patients occupying ICU beds or both.
Texas Orthopedic Hospital
7401 South Main Street
Houston, TX 77030
Note: HHS redacted numbers from this hospital because it reported fewer than four staffed ICU beds, fewer than four patients occupying ICU beds or both.
Healthbridge Childrens Hospital of Houston
2929 Woodland Park Drive
Houston, TX 77082
Note: HHS redacted numbers from this hospital because it reported fewer than four staffed ICU beds, fewer than four patients occupying ICU beds or both.
Altus Houston Hospital, LP
6011 W. Sam Houston Pkwy. Soouth
Houston, TX 77072
Note: HHS redacted numbers from this hospital because it reported fewer than four staffed ICU beds, fewer than four patients occupying ICU beds or both.
Shriners Hospitals For Children
6977 Main Street
Houston, TX 77030
Note: HHS redacted numbers from this hospital because it reported fewer than four staffed ICU beds, fewer than four patients occupying ICU beds or both.
- Note: Because data for hospitals with fewer than four patients occupying ICU beds or fewer than four staffed ICU adult beds is redacted, we cannot calculate the percentage of staffed ICU beds. About 200 out of more than 400 Texas hospitals that reported data to the federal government have fewer than four staffed adult ICU beds at any given time.
- Source: Department of Health & Human Services
- Credit: Carla Astudillo
The vast majority of COVID-19 patients in hospitals and ICUs are unvaccinated. Doctors say mask-wearing, hand-washing and social distancing are the best ways to slow down the hospital numbers in the short term, and that monoclonal antibody therapies for people with COVID-19 symptoms can keep them out of the hospital in many cases. They also say the only way to permanently slow down the record spike in hospitalizations is to vaccinate a majority of the state.
