LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — University Medical Center announced today that the hospital has experienced a significant decline in COVID-19 patients in recent weeks. In addition, UMC’s dedicated COVID-19 testing laboratory now provides test results in an average of 12 hours after receiving the sample in UMC’s lab.
UMC’s COVID-19 inpatient census has decreased by about 73 percent since late July, reaching a daily high of 121 patients before declining to the current daily inpatient total of 33 patients with confirmed cases of the virus.
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Similarly, UMC has experienced a sharp drop in the number of people seeking emergency care for COVID-19-related complaints each day, with daily totals declining by nearly 90 percent since the peak. On July 21, a total of 79 patients visited UMC’s emergency departments for COVID-19 assessments. The most recent daily total shows that this number has decreased to only eight patients.
The hospital’s ICU occupancy rate has also improved noticeably, dropping to 78 percent after reaching 92 percent on July 10.
“These encouraging figures represent continued progress in our county and UMC’s ongoing response to this unprecedented public health crisis,” said UMC CEO Mason Van Houweling. “While the situation has certainly improved, we cannot afford to let our guards down. To help build upon this momentum, UMC’s leading COVID-19 laboratory has introduced new processes to provide an average turnaround time of 12 hours for test results.”
UMC continues to lead the state in COVID-19 testing, with about 340,000 tests performed since the onset of the pandemic. Same-day testing appointments are now available five days a week at both of UMC’s public testing sites, Cashman Center and the UNLV Thomas & Mack Center Strip View Pavilion. These locations are open Tuesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Community members can easily make appointments online by visiting www.umcsn.com/testing [umcsn.com] and selecting “Public” from the drop-down menu.
As flu season approaches, UMC urges community members to receive the annual influenza vaccine while continuing to seek testing for COVID-19, wear masks in public, practice social distancing and perform frequent hand hygiene.
“These simple measures serve as our most valuable tools in slowing the spread of COVID-19,” Van Houweling said.
