Health care executives said the Texas Medical Center is seeing “the light at the end of the tunnel” as 2020 comes to a close with promising vaccine trials and construction of its planned research and innovation campus TMC3 is back on track after getting delayed by the pandemic.
COVID-19 cases, however, are continuing to spike, they warned.
At a State of the Texas Medical Center event, held virtually Thursday, health care leaders said the medical complex has excelled at compiling real-time data to make decisions on how to handle the surge in coronavirus cases and collaborating during the pandemic, something that the institutions had never done before.
“We’ve learned a lot during this pandemic about what we can do together and better,” said Eric Boerwinkle, dean of the UTHealth School of Public Health. “And what’s going to happen if we do things right to prepare ourselves for the future, those channels of communication will far outlast COVID-19.”
Even as doctors painted a rosy picture for the future of the medical center, COVID-19 patients are continuing to push the intensive care unit capacity of its hospitals. On Thursday, TMC reported there were 1,387 patients in the ICU at the end of the day Wednesday, exceeding its normal capacity by 4 percent.
Public health experts have braced for a surge in COVID-19 cases since Thanksgiving as people travel and go to multi-household gatherings. Hospitalization rates are beginning to resemble the increase in cases in June, after earlier lockdowns were lifted, said TMC CEO William McKeon.
RISING CASES: TMC hospitals again exceed base ICU capacity with COVID patients
“It’s really concerning what’s taking place right now,” McKeon said.
The Texas Medical Center has faced serious challenges in 2020 as thousands of COVID-19 patients flooded intensive care units. Hospital revenues fell in the spring when Gov. Greg Abbott ordered health systems to halt elective procedures such as knee surgeries — a major source of payments — to devote resources to fighting the pandemic. Hospital leaders did not discuss revenues at Thursday’s event.
Houston’s health care sector employs 320,500 people across nearly 2,000 institutions, according to the Greater Houston Partnership, a business-financed economic development group. The Texas Medical Center cares for 10 million patients annually and generates about $25 billion in economic impact.
Looking forward
The health care sector will be key to Houston’s growth in the coming years, experts said. In October, the Center for Houston’s Future, a local think tank, estimated that one in four jobs added in the region from 2019 to 2036 would be in the medical field.
Next year, economists expect the local health care industry to add as many as 7,000 jobs to Houston’s economy. In a typical year, the medical sector adds about 10,000 jobs.
TMC3, the research and innovation institute about to break ground in the coming months and slated for completion in 2022, could bring as many as 23,000 permanent jobs to Harris County, McKeon said. It could generate an additional $5.2 billion annually in economic activity.
The 37-acre campus will become home to a mix of academic research and leading hospitals. It is expected to accelerate the development of medical devices and treatments, creating a “third coast” for life science developments, said Bob Harvey, the CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership.
“There is the light at the end of the tunnel that we look forward to,” Harvey said.
gwendolyn.wu@chron.com
twitter.com/gwendolynawu
"center" - Google News
December 11, 2020 at 05:00PM
https://ift.tt/343Yl4q
Texas Medical Center leaders say communication, collaboration key to handling COVID-19 crisis - Houston Chronicle
"center" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3bUHym8
https://ift.tt/2zR6ugj
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Texas Medical Center leaders say communication, collaboration key to handling COVID-19 crisis - Houston Chronicle"
Post a Comment