Shasta County hospitals say it can expand ICU capabilities

With COVID-19 cases climbing, hospitals in Shasta County are prepping for a surge.

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Do northern california hospitals have the ability to expand the number of their i- c-u beds?

Action news now reporter 'ana torrea' is live in redding..

Ana how are hospitals in shasta county doing?

Hospitals, like mercy medical center behind me, are preparing for a surge.

Hospitals leaders say, they have additional resources to help them expand beyond their i-c-u walls if needed to.

At mercy medical center, there are 33 i-c-u beds.

But there are 10 more additional beds that hospital can move into just in case.

Robert folden mercy medical center all of us have the capacity to go beyond our icu walls.

But as i mentioned, we don't like to do that because icus are such a well-controlled environment and we like to keep our highly trained nurses, our highly trained physicians our respiratory techs, we like to keep them with those patients.

Now over at shasta regional, there are 22 i-c-u beds.

Hospitals reps say, their i-c-u is almost full.

But they can expand into 12 more additional beds.

In order for a region avoid a shutdown, i-c-u bed capacity needs to stay above 15-percent.

Reporting live in redding, ana torrea, action news now coverage you can count on.

At last check, northern california's i-c-u bed capacity is at