Nine leaders from separate Minnesota health systems released a joint statement Dec. 12, warning that their hospital operations are strained and many team members "demoralized," while urging the public to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
The letter ran in newspaper ads statewide and was signed by executives at Minneapolis-based Allina Health, Minneapolis-based Children's Minnesota, Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services, Bloomington-based HealthPartners, Minneapolis-based Hennepin Healthcare, Robbindale-based North Memorial Health, Duluth-based Essentia Health, St. Cloud-based CentraCare and Rochester-based Mayo Clinic.
The ad was also posted on Twitter Dec. 12 by Aimée Jordan, a media relations manager for Fairview Health.
"Care in our hospitals is safe but our ability to provide it is threatened," the letter reads, citing car accidents, strokes and heart attacks as examples of conditions at risk of getting crowded out by COVID-19 patient surges. "Your access to healthcare is being seriously threatened by COVID-19."
The leaders ask community members to get vaccinated and boosted; wear a mask and socially distance; get tested if feeling sick; and to encourage others to take the same steps.
Minnesota recorded a 2021 high of 1,653 COVID-19 hospitalizations Dec. 8, surpassing its Dec. 3 record of 1,570. Only 22 of 1,012 adult intensive care beds were available Dec. 8, according to the Star Tribune.