Hospitalizations rising in Wisconsin as COVID-19 cases surge

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Hospitals across Wisconsin continue to navigate changes as COVID-19 cases surge.

Most hospitals in the state are seeing a rise in patients for both COVID and non-COVID related reasons. According to data from the Wisconsin Hospital Association, there were nearly 1,100 patients hospitalized in Wisconsin as of Monday. More than 300 of them are reportedly in intensive care. That’s the highest number since the beginning of the year.

The Watertown Regional Medical Center is seeing a surge in emergency room patients, causing the hospital to temporarily close its urgent care to send more staffing help to the ER. “We will be reviewing the needs of our community on a regular basis and will notify everyone when we re-open Urgent Care,” said a spokesperson.

Officials at Watertown Regional Medical Center say patients being seen in the Emergency Department are a mixture of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. “However, the increasing prevalence of COVID-19 in our community is a major factor for this change and COVID-19 continues to be a serious threat to our community,” the spokesperson said.

NBC15 also checked in with UW-Health and SSM Health. Both systems say they are seeing an increase in patients but have the staffing to handle it.

“Our situation right now is fairly stable compared to last week. That’s not the story around the state. Other health systems are seeing cases increase at a faster rate. It’s getting challenging,” said UW-Health’s Dr. Jeff Pothof.

Pothof says even with the increase in COVID-19 cases across the state, Wisconsin is still in a better position than some other parts of the country when it comes to hospitalizations.

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