The Topeka Capital-Journal: ‘It is urgent, Kansas’: Gov. Laura Kelly sounds alarm on hospital capacity and slams misinformation on COVID-19

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly raised the alarm Friday about capacity in Kansas' hospitals and raising information about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Her remarks, which came Friday at a news at event at Saint Luke's South Hospital in Overland Park, come as intensive care units in northeast Kansas, as well as the Wichita area, have become perilously full, with hospitals warning their capacity to deal with non-COVID-19-related emergencies may soon be sharply limited.

At Saint Luke's, Dr. Andrew Schlachter, an intensive care doctor specializing in pulmonary diseases, said the hospital has been fielding calls for beds as far away as south Texas. But the facility is unable to pitch in — its COVID-19 case counts are nearing the peaks seen during November of 2020.

"Imagine every hospital operating an emergency room an ICU bed that is too busy to take care of your true emergency," Schlachter said. "We are literally talking about the kinds of emergencies where seconds matter. And we are running around all day, every day from one fire to the next."

Read the full article from The Topeka Capital-Journal: ‘It is urgent, Kansas’: Gov. Laura Kelly sounds alarm on hospital capacity and slams misinformation on COVID-19