The department had been overreporting the number of hospital beds available and in use in the state but made changes to correct the process June 6. Arizona’s state health director, Cara Christ, MD, told the network staff were confused about hospitals’ licensed bed capacity and surge capacity.
Since April 8, hospitals had reported to ADHS their surge bed capacity, which included more than 600 intensive care unit beds and 2,200 general inpatient beds. The state health department employees then added these numbers in both total bed capacity and “in use” beds, generating a false representation of the number of beds available.
Public concerns grew over the past week about Arizona’s hospital capacity as the dashboard showed both record numbers of hospitalized COVID-19 patients and total hospital inpatient loads at 87 percent of capacity, according to the report.
Since June 6, the department removed the surge capacity figures and is only reporting licensed bed capacity.
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