Riverside County At 0% ICU Bed Capacity As Nurses' Strike Looms

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — As coronavirus hospitalizations mount in Riverside County and intensive care unit beds are at zero capacity, unionized registered nurses and licensed medical professionals at three Southland hospitals — including Riverside Community Hospital — have called a 10-day unfair labor practice strike.

According to a statement Monday from the registered nurse union SEIU Local RN121, the workers plan to strike from December 24 through January 3 at Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside, Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks and West Hills Hospital & Medical Center in West Hills.

Union members gave the hospitals a 10-day advance notice Monday in order to allow the employers ample time to bring in temporary replacement staff, according to SEIU Local RN121.

All three hospitals are Hospital Corporation of America facilities. Safety, staffing and workload issues impacting safety are the employees’ major concerns, according to the union.

Bruce Barton, director of the county's emergency management department, was quoted in a KESQ story Friday about the pending Riverside Community Hospital walkout.

"That would have a massive, massive impact on our system. ... If that facility closed, there would be a huge, detrimental impact on the public — I'm afraid sir we would lose lives," Barton said. "We will have to send patients to all the other hospitals that are already overwhelmed. We'll have to send them across the border to San Bernardino County to their hospitals that are already close to capacity."

In recent days it was reported that San Bernardino County has been forced to move some patients into outdoor tents due to its overwhelming high number of hospitalizations.

As of Monday, Riverside University Health System reported the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations was at 930, which includes 184 intensive-care unit patients.

The overall licensed hospital bed capacity in Riverside County is 3,560 with 385 licensed ICU beds, according to the county's "Readiness and Reopening Framework" document. According to the document, the county can potentially add an additional 2,464 beds and an additional 716 ICU beds.

Monday RUHS reported that ICU bed capacity in the county was at zero percent. The ICU figure includes both COVID and non-COVID patients. In the Southern California region, hospital bed capacity is at 2.7 percent, according to RUHS.

"The number of ICU beds has reached capacity, however, the hospitals themselves have the ability through their surge plans to convert other equipment and beds into ICU beds," Riverside University Health System spokesman Jose Arballo told City News Service.

Arballo said there are currently no plans to open up the county's two federal medical facilities in Riverside and Indio, although he said the equipment remains stored at the sites if needed.

"We are confident that the hospitals have the ability when they get to this point to be able to add more capability to their facilities," he said.

The total number of coronavirus infections since documentation began in March now stands at 119,691 countywide. The figure increased by 6,741 positive cases since Friday.

The county's COVID-19 death toll now stands at 1,586, an increase of 13 people since Friday.

Over the weekend, some mostly locally owned Southwest Riverside County restaurants/bars remained open to patrons, despite a state order that requires them to serve to-go patrons only. Some gyms, hair salons, and other businesses are also remaining open, according to reports from Patch readers.

The lack of adherence comes following a blistering public statement from Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who said his deputies will not enforce the state order.

From September 15 through December 9, county officials reached out to 65 businesses with advisory and educational outreach letters regarding non-compliance with coronavirus state and county public health orders, Brooke Federico, spokesperson for the county said.

Twelve businesses during that period received cease-and-desist letters; one temporary restraining order was granted by the court; and one preliminary injunction was issued by the court, Federico said.

Meanwhile, the first shipments of a much-anticipated vaccine against the virus could arrive in Riverside County on Friday.

Local health officials are working with area hospitals to vaccinate thousands of first-line health care workers, according to a statement Monday from the county.

The recently approved vaccine is expected to arrive at several pre-selected hospitals and at Riverside University Health System - Public Health facilities, where doses will be stored until transported to other medical locations.

The total number of doses for Riverside County is between 14,000 and 15,000, the county reported.

The Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine last week.

The vaccines come "at an urgent time, especially for our health care workers who face a worsening situation at hospitals throughout Riverside County and our nation," said Riverside County Board Chair V. Manuel Perez, Fourth District Supervisor. "It is ever more critical that we follow public health requirements, wear a mask, maintain physical distancing and avoid unsafe crowds so we can all help each other.”

The first group to be vaccinated in Riverside County includes healthcare workers at acute care hospitals with “direct patient contact who have potential for direct or indirect exposure," according to the county.

Other high-risk groups will take priority as more vaccine doses are shipped to Riverside County. First responders, other essential workers, and people at high risk of serious illness from infection, including people over 65, will have the opportunity to receive the vaccine ahead of the general public.

Vaccine availability for the rest of the county is not expected to begin until late spring or early summer.

This article originally appeared on the Temecula Patch