California hospitals prepping for grim COVID-19 choices

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California hospitals struggling with a skyrocketing coronavirus surge are trying to prepare for the possibility that they may have to ration care for lack of staff and beds — and hoping they don't have to make that choice.

The state avoided surging cases for months, but now the virus is raging out of control there and across the nation in the wake of Thanksgiving holiday gatherings that authorities say vastly spread infections. Only Arizona tops California in cases per resident.

The state this week ordered hospitals in the hardest-hit areas to delay many elective surgeries in order to free up space.

In Los Angeles County, Methodist Hospital of Southern California convened an in-house triage team that makes daily evaluations “about the severity of critically ill patients that allows us to distribute resources to those who need it the most,” chief strategy officer Cliff Daniels said.

The hospital isn't rationing care “and we hope we don't get there," Daniels said.

However, guidelines posted on the hospital’s website warn: “If a patient becomes extremely ill and very unlikely to survive their illness (even with life-saving treatment), then certain resources ... may be allocated to another patient who is more likely to survive.”

Los Angeles County, the nation's most populous with 10 million residents, is one of nearly two dozen in Southern California and the agricultural Central Valley that have essentially run out of intensive care unit beds for COVID-19 patients.

Health officials warned Wednesday that hospitalizations will continue for at least the next three weeks as people who ignored social distancing rules to gather for Christmas and New Year's Eve fall ill.

Hospitals statewide with room have been told to accept patients from...