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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" ![](\\" Erin Marie Olszewski stated on August 2, 2021 in an Instagram post: “It’s not unusual for hospitals to sit at max or near max capacity on any given day.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" half-true/6479cbc723379f0ee49c269b0b9790b7.jpg.\\") ![\\"half- true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") * Health Care * Public Health * Facebook Fact-checks * Coronavirus * Erin Marie Olszewski ![\\"Madison](\\" By Madison Czopek August 11, 2021 # It’s common for hospitals to be full, but COVID-19 adds unusual burdens #### If Your Time is short • Experts say that it’s not unusual for a hospital to operate close to its capacity since hospitals continually adjust their available beds and staffing levels to meet patient needs. • But a large number of COVID-19 hospitalizations creates special burdens for hospitals, because patients must be kept isolated. See the sources for this fact-check Should people be worried that the number of COVID-19-related hospitalizations reported in their area might overwhelm health care systems? Posts on social media would have you believe that there’s no cause for alarm — even if cases of COVID-19 are on the rise near you. Tampa nurse Erin Marie Olszewski shared such a post on Instagram. \"It’s not unusual for hospitals to sit at max or near max capacity on any given day,\" Olszewski’s post — a screenshot of one of her tweets — reads. \"The media would like you to think this is a new thing, but it’s not.\" Her post on Instagram was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) In an email to PolitiFact, Olszewski pointed to a Johns Hopkins University webpage with weekly hospitalization trends. The data, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, spans a time period from late July 2020 to the present, and \"displays the 7-day trend in overall and COVID-19-specific hospitalization occupancy data.\" The numbers show a fairly steady level of occupied hospital beds over the past year. \"COVID is not the reason for busy hospitals,\" Olszewski wrote in the email. But her post suggests that the impact of rapidly increasing COVID-19-related hospitalizations is routine for health care systems. It’s not, and it’s putting an unusual strain on hospitals. Hospitals often run at high capacity Representatives from hospital associations said it isn’t unusual for hospitals to operate close to their maximum capacity. This is because hospitals are continually adjusting their capacity based on demand. \"They may have some rooms on a floor or in a specific unit that are physically there, but since they aren’t staffed, they aren’t available for patient use,\" said Marc Lotter, a spokesperson for the Florida Hospital Association. \"Should the need rise, hospitals will staff those beds and make them available.\" Hospitals are careful to maintain enough capacity for unexpected circumstances and emergencies, Lotter said, but to contain costs, they do not keep rooms staffed or available if they aren’t in use or likely to be needed. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Jeffrey Barke stated on August 23, 2024 in an Instagram post Food and Drug Administration approval for updated COVID-19 vaccines requires a public health emergency declaration. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Jeff Cercone • August 27, 2024 But not all capacity utilization is the same. A heavy load of COVID-19 patients places an unusual strain on hospital capacity. As of Aug. 11, HHS data indicates that nationwide, about 76.4% inpatient beds in the U.S. are in use — and 10.5% of those beds are in use for COVID-19-specific reasons. Nationally, 75.4% of ICU beds in the U.S. are in use, and 22.2% of those beds are in use for COVID-19. In Olszewski’s home state of Florida — a recent COVID-19 hotspot — the numbers are far higher: 90.1% of ICU beds are in use, and nearly half of those are being used for COVID-19 patients. Meanwhile, 86.2% of inpatient beds are in use, more than a quarter of them for COVID-19-specific reasons. \"There is no question many Florida hospitals are reaching their max capacity and beyond,\" Lotter said. He referenced Aug. 5 data from his group indicating that 60% of hospitals surveyed in Florida were expecting to face a \"critical staffing shortage in the next seven days,\" which he said would affect capacity. Additionally, 27% of surveyed Florida hospitals expected that they would need to expand into \"non-care areas\" such as conference rooms and cafeterias, to accommodate patients in the next seven days. In areas where COVID-19 patients account for a high percentage of hospitalizations, there are \"implications for everyone who needs care for emergent or non-emergent reasons,\" said Thomas Jordan, a spokesperson for the American Hospital Association. \"Caring for COVID-19 patients is resource-intensive, including from a materials perspective — PPE, oxygen, etc. — and also from a space perspective,\" he said. \"COVID-19 patients must be isolated from non-COVID-19 patients by either placing them in the same units as other COVID patients or in single occupancy rooms. This makes it more difficult for hospitals to have space for all other non-COVID patients.\" Jordan also said caring for COVID-19 patients requires \"significant staff resources,\" and noted that at this point in the pandemic \"our doctors, nurses and other staff are exhausted.\" In some cases, Jordan noted, hospitals have had to stop other routine business again due to the influx of COVID-19 patients — as they did early on in the pandemic. Our ruling Olszewski said, \"It’s not unusual for hospitals to sit at max or near max capacity on any given day.\" Hospitals continually adjust their available beds and staffing according to demand because over-staffing is expensive. So it is not unusual for hospitals to operate near maximum capacity. But not all capacity utilization is the same. COVID-19 places additional strains on space, staff and hospital resources, because infected patients need to be kept isolated from others. Hospital systems in parts of the country where the virus is spreading quickly have had to halt other routine procedures and are running out of available beds and staff. The claim is partly accurate but leaves out important context. We rate this claim Half True. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Instagram post, Aug. 2, 2021 Facebook page for Erin Marie, accessed Aug. 11, 2021 Email with Erin Marie Olszewski, Aug. 10, 2021 Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, \"Weekly Hospitalization Trends,\" accessed Aug. 11, 2021 HHS Protect Public Data Hub, \"Hospital Utilization,\" accessed Aug. 11, 2021 Email exchange with Marc Lotter, Florida Hospital Association spokesperson, Aug. 6, 2021 Florida Hospital Association, \"Florida Hospital Association COVID-19 Update,\" Aug. 6, 2021 Email exchange with Thomas Jordan, American Hospital Association spokesperson, Aug. 9, 2021 GAO.gov, \"COVID-19: HHS\'s Collection of Hospital Capacity Data,\" accessed Aug. 9, 2021 Email exchange with Jessica Farb, the managing director of the Government Accountability Office’s health care team, Aug. 9, 2021 Boston Globe, \"Hospitals are canceling elective surgeries to respond to COVID. Here’s what you need to know,\" Dec. 11, 2020 KTLA 5, \"‘There are only so many beds’: Florida hospital chain suspending elective surgeries amid COVID surge,\" Aug. 5, 2021 News4Jax, \"Southeast Georgia Health System postpones some elective surgeries, limits hospital visitation,\" Aug. 5, 2021 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Madison Czopek ![](\\" black/4590875651af69b2c789ceab409664dd.jpg\\") ![](\\" black/72988380e8c8bd188dc360d11552e4a0.jpg\\") X posts stated on September 3, 2024 in a video posted on X: On June 7, 2011, Kamala Harris was involved in a San Francisco hit-and-run crash that injured a woman named Alicia Brown. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Madison Czopek • September 5, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Social Media stated on August 29, 2024 in a post on Instagram: “BREAKING: Illegal Aliens in San Diego, California, tried to hijack 2 school buses filled with children.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Madison Czopek • September 4, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 25, 2024 in a Facebook post: “There’s no such thing as menopause.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Madison Czopek • August 30, 2024 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 24, 2024 in an Instagram post: World Economic Forum “document confirms 6 billion humans will die in 2025.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Madison Czopek • August 29, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Bob Casey stated on August 22, 2024 in a speech at the 2024 Democratic National Convention: “Prices are up because these corporations are scheming to drive them up.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Madison Czopek • August 28, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" JD Vance stated on August 16, 2024 in a post on X: “Kamala Harris wants to give $25,000 to illegal aliens to buy American homes.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Madison Czopek • August 22, 2024 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 4, 2024 in an Instagram post: “The NFL will now use facial recognition at every stadium to verify the identity of everyone at the game.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Madison Czopek • August 16, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 12, 2024 in a post on Facebook: Dr. Leo Ferreira, a cancer researcher shown in a video clip, was on the plane that crashed in Brazil on Aug. 9. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Madison Czopek • August 15, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Jesse Watters stated on August 6, 2024 in a segment on \"Jesse Watters Primetime\": Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “forced schools to stock tampons in boys’ bathrooms.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Madison Czopek • August 13, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 11, 2024 in a post on Truth Social: Photo of Kamala Harris’ Aug. 7 rally near Detroit was AI-generated and “there was nobody there.” Attendees pictured “didn’t exist.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Madison Czopek • August 12, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 27, 2024 in a post on X: Video shows that “JD Vance endorses Project 2025.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Madison Czopek • July 31, 2024 ![](\\" black/4590875651af69b2c789ceab409664dd.jpg\\") ![](\\" black/72988380e8c8bd188dc360d11552e4a0.jpg\\") X posts stated on July 22, 2024 in a post on X: The death of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, six days after the Trump rally shooting was linked to her “oversight of the Secret Service.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Madison Czopek • July 24, 2024 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 21, 2024 in a post on Instagram: “The state of Washington has already sent out their ballots” for the 2024 presidential election. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Madison Czopek • July 23, 2024 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 14, 2024 in an Instagram post: A Secret Service agent named Jonathan Willis said he “had the assassin in his sights for 3 minutes, but he was told not to engage by the head of the (Secret Service) unit.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Madison Czopek • July 15, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Joe Biden stated on July 9, 2024 in a speech in Washington D.C.: In 2020, “only nine NATO allies were spending 2%” of their GDP on defense. “This year, 23 will spend at least 2%.” ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Madison Czopek • July 12, 2024 ### It’s common for hospitals to be full, but COVID-19 adds unusual burdens * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 12, 2024 in an Instagram post: A video shows a body that Israel embedded with a bomb exploding during a Palestinian funeral procession. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 11, 2024 in a post: “ESPN has fired Shannon Sharpe.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Gideon Hess • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 12, 2024 in an Instagram post: Former President Donald Trump admitted during the Sept. 10 presidential debate that he “blew up the Nord Stream pipeline.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Loreben Tuquero • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 10, 2024 in a Facebook post: Patron, Don Julio and Pink Whitney tequila recalled because they contained fecal matter. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Jeff Cercone • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Elissa Slotkin stated on September 11, 2024 in a TV ad: Mike Rogers supported “laws that could eliminate IVF and birth control.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Caleb McCullough • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 11, 2024 in an Instagram post: \"Debate moderators made the false claim to Donald Trump that there is nowhere in the United States where abortion is legal up until birth.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Jeff Cercone • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 12, 2024 in a Facebook post: ABC News fired presidential debate moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Sofia Ahmed • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Yes on 4 stated on September 10, 2024 in a TV ad: Florida’s six-week abortion law has “no real exceptions. 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It’s not unusual for hospitals to sit at max or near max capacity on any given day