COVID surge pushes much of Idaho toward medical rationing
ABC News
Idaho’s public health officials say crisis standards of care are imminent for the state’s most populated region as hospitals continue to be overrun with unvaccinated coronavirus patients
BOISE, Idaho -- Idaho's public health officials say crisis standards of care are imminent for the state's most populated region as hospitals continue to be overrun with unvaccinated coronavirus patients.
The southwestern and southern Idaho regions that include Boise and Twin Falls may get official authorization to begin rationing health care — a step intended to ensure the patients most likely to survive are given access to scarce resources like intensive care unit beds — any day now, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen said Tuesday.
“We continue to set new records each week,” said Jeppesen about coronavirus hospitalizations. “We do not see a peak in sight.”
Hospitals in the northern half of the state were given permission to begin rationing care last week, when Kootenai Health in Coeur d'Alene was forced to begin treating some patients in a field hospital set up in a conference center instead of regular hospital rooms.
