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As it is with just about every segment of the community, the latest surge of COVID-19 is challenging Whatcom County’s emergency healthcare system in ways it hasn’t been challenged before. As the omicron variant drives reported case numbers in Whatcom County to record levels, St. Joseph’s hospital in Bellingham also has seen an increase in COVID-related patients. On Sunday, Jan. 9, the hospital reported treating a pandemic record 61 COVID-related patients. For comparison, the hospital never had more than 42 COVID-related patients at any one time during the delta surge in late summer and fall of 2021, and that was the high-water mark for the pandemic until omicron pushed that record higher last week.

“The hospital is extremely busy, frequently over 100% capacity, with patients in every available bed in every unit,” PeaceHealth Northwest Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sudhakar Karlapudi said in a joint release with the Whatcom County Health Department. Peaks in COVID-related hospitalizations usually lag two to three weeks being surges in cases and with Whatcom’s case rates still on the rise, hospital numbers could continue to climb.

In a PeaceHealth release Monday, Jan. 10, Whatcom County residents with milder injuries or illness, such as mild burns or cuts, allergies, sprains, urinary tract infections or flu and cold symptoms, were asked to seek treatment by primary care physicians, urgent care clinics and same-day clinics rather than going to the hospital.