The Tulsa metropolitan area ranked among the top ten for estimated staffed intensive care unit bed utilization and ventilator utilization in an Oct. 27 COVID-19 hospitalization report from the federal Department of Health and Human Services obtained and published by NPR.
The Tulsa metro's estimated ventilator utilization was the highest in the nation, ahead of Rochester, NY, and Omaha, Neb. Tulsa ranked ninth for staffed ICU bed utilization, behind Columbus, Ohio, and ahead of Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.
Oklahoma had the biggest 14-day jump in ventilator utilization in the nation, according to the report.
NPR reports that health experts believe the information in the internal report and ones like it should be made public.
In Oklahoma, Dr. George Monks of the Oklahoma State Medical Assocation and Dr. Dale Bratzler, OU Chief COVID Officer, have called for more transparency in hospital data reporting from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. On Friday, Monks tweeted that such data is critical for the care of patients with the novel coronavirus.
