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Despite surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, local hospital administrator says situation isn’t yet critical

Bill Waechter, the president of North Central Baptist, says the hospital has prepared for the worst.

SAN ANTONIO — Record-breaking amounts of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have local hospital administrators keeping a close eye on the data.

However, Bill Waechter, the president of North Central Baptist and Baptist Children’s Hospital, said the hospital’s preparations at the onset of COVID-19 have allowed the hospital to avoid the worst. 

On Monday, Governor Greg Abbott painted a stark picture of the state's hospitalization rate, noting that hospitalizations have average more than 3200 a day.

"To state the obvious, COVID-19 is now spreading at an unacceptable rate in Texas, Abbott said.

in San Antonio, less than 30% of staffed hospital beds are available with 446 COVID-positive patients hospitalized and 124 in intensive care. 

It's concerning,” Waechter said of the hospitalization rate. “We want to make sure that we have enough beds available. And I feel confident that more beds can be made available if there is an increased demand for those beds.”

Waechter said the hospital has seen an increase in patients seeking treatment for coronavirus, but the surge has scared people out of seeking treatment for other ailments 

“What we are telling our patients is, ‘Don’t put off those signs and symptoms of a heart attack. Don't put some of these things off,’ because people's conditions have gotten worse. We're seeing people are afraid to come seek care.

The hospital is it taking precautions to mitigate the spread of the virus. Just today the hospital reactivated its policy banning visitors in many cases except end of life and beginning of life care.

Waechter said the hospitals are keeping a close eye on the day-to-day numbers and making changes where necessary. 

“We speak often with our command center about where we need to put resources and people,” Waechter said. “We have looked at different service lines, doing some type of cases and not doing others to preserve PPE, to preserve critical care beds when necessary, and to keep our staff safe and our visitors safe.”

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