“Unfortunately, with the increase in infections, the number of people seeking medical treatment in hospitals can far exceed the capacity of any given hospital,” the order says.
“Hospitals that have reached capacity may need to stop admitting patients and may also need to transfer these patients to a separate facility without first obtaining the person’s written or informed consent for such a transfer,” continues the prescription.
The order, which will be in effect for the next 30 days, allows hospitals that are “able to examine and treat patients” to send them to other health facilities to prevent hospitals from being shut down. overwhelmed.
Federal law still requires emergency rooms to examine unstable patients before transferring them to another hospital, a subsidiary of Denver NBC 9 News reported.
Colorado, like much of the country, is seeing an increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. As of Monday, 1,711 confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients are hospitalized, according to state data of 93 percent of state hospitals.
A total of 33% of facilities anticipate a staff shortage in the next week, while 10% anticipate a shortage of intensive care unit beds during this time.
Colorado has documented 192,943 confirmed cases and 9,346 probable cases since the start of the pandemic. There have been 2,456 deaths, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
