By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

An increasing number of St. Luke transfer patients are now being sent to Rock Regional Hospital in Derby because Wichita and Newton hospitals are filling up and cannot accept transfer patients.

“It is an issue of staffed and available beds in Newton and Wichita,” St. Luke Hospital CEO Jeremy Ensey said. “Their number of COVID patients in the hospital has increased.”

In August, two St. Luke patients were transferred to RRH and 15 transferred elsewhere; in September, all 10 patients transferred from St. Luke were sent to other hospitals; in October, three patients were transferred to RRH and 14 transferred elsewhere; and in the first five days of November, one patient was transferred to RRH and three transferred elsewhere.

As of Monday, Via Christi’s and Wesley Medical Center’s intensive care units were operating full. Kansas Hospital Association statistics released Monday show 13 south-central Kansas hospitals expect critical staffing shortages this week.

Hospitals in south central Kansas had 478 confirmed or suspected COVID patients, 91 of them in intensive care. The hospitals had 966 beds (37% of all beds) available; 33 intensive care beds (12% of all ICU beds) available, and 21 ventilators in use for COVID patients, leaving 239 available.

The number of new COVID cases treated by hospitals in the south-central area of the state went from 934 on Aug. 10 to 5,305 on Monday.