Marian Regional Medical Center: Omicron surge winds down while hospital numbers remain high

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - As the Omicron remains prevalent across the Central Coast, hospitals remain busy.

Health experts at Marian Regional Medical Center say there are signs the surge has started to decline.

But they believe the surge may be the highest they've seen over the last two years.

"Even though we seem to be coming down from that the hospital is still experiencing all those effects ... because when you admit those patients into the hospital they stay in the hospital for quite some time," said Dr. Alicia Gonzalez at Marian Regional Medical Center.

This can cause backups in the Emergency Department.

Since Omicron is so much more contagious than previous variants such as Delta, the hospital saw more patients.

"The sheer volume of patients that have come in to get our support has been overwhelming," said Gonzalez.

Doctors say the medical center is still seeing a tremendous number of patients positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19, but they're also seeing a high number of patients with other emergencies.

"Fortunately many of these patients are not requiring hospitalizations. But it's really taking a ton of our healthcare staff off the job ... which is impacting almost everything within our hospitals and clinics," said Dr. Scott Robertson at Marian Regional Medical Center.

If you find yourself waiting for several hours in the ER, doctors are asking for your patience as they work to treat everyone in need.

"I'm asking our community to trust our process ... trust we know how to triage people ... we have to put those first emergencies first ... we've got to put those people first ... that means others are going to wait ... once you're in you'll get the best care in the community," said Gonzalez.