Gov. Kevin Stitt said this week that COVID-19 hospitalizations have been “pretty flat” for two months, but state data show admissions actually have increased by almost 50% in that period.
Stitt made the pronouncement during a news conference Tuesday while trying to persuade all school districts to offer the option of in-person learning this semester.
A reporter asked Stitt whether the state needed to enact more public health mitigation measures, given Oklahoma’s record new case rate and how much hospitals are struggling.
The governor responded that the State Health Department was reviewing which restrictions in his expiring executive order would be renewed the next day. Ultimately, only a curfew on bars and restaurants was allowed to lapse.
Stitt then remarked on Oklahoma’s hospital situation.
“1,794 I believe was the hospital capacity (hospitalizations Monday),” Stitt said. “That’s stayed pretty flat for the last couple of months or so.”
The governor cited a number that includes only patients in the state’s acute-care hospitals — not those hospitalized in other facilities.
Looking at that data set, the number of COVID-19 patients in acute-care hospitals has risen 46% in two months: from 1,184 on Nov. 12 to to 1,734 on Monday — the latest data available at the time of his remarks.
The peak in that two-month span was 1,823, reported Jan. 5, which is a 54% increase over Nov. 12.
The Governor’s Office declined to answer questions emailed by the Tulsa World regarding Stitt’s statement.
“I’m not going to engage in the details of the governor’s extemporaneous comments,” wrote Charlie Hannema, chief of communications for Stitt.
Patti Davis, president of the Oklahoma Hospital Association, said hospitals wouldn’t agree with Stitt’s assessment of capacity.
“Our hospitals that are providing care would not characterize it that way,” she said. “It’s hectic, it’s busy, and it’s challenging.”
Davis noted that the state’s test positivity rate greatly concerns her because hospitalizations follow the positivity trends. Oklahoma has led the nation in test positivity since mid-December, according to federal data.
“We long for the days of this to go in the other direction,” Davis said. “We want to get on the other side of this.”
The hospital inpatient number Stitt cited did not include tribal hospitals, specialty hospitals and rehabilitation facilities.
The hospitalization metric generally used in tracking the pandemic in Oklahoma encompasses each of those types of facilities — in addition to acute care hospitals — and shows a similar or worse trend.
There were 1,902 confirmed COVID hospitalizations in the state Monday, which was a 58% increase from two months earlier — 1,202 on Nov. 12.
There were 17 daily records out of 39 state reports during that period, with a record 1,994 COVID hospitalizations reported Jan. 5 — a 66% increase.
Recently, hospitalizations began to trend down beginning Jan. 6 after the 1,994 peak. They had been skyrocketing since mid-September, when they briefly hovered in the 450s to 550s range.
On Wednesday, 1,844 COVID hospitalizations were reported.
In a prepared statement, Dr. George Monks, president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association, noted that hospitalizations have continued to rise during the past two months.
“As COVID hospitalizations have continued to rise over the past two months, Oklahoma’s hospitals have made incredible strides to increase capacity,” Monks wrote. “However, hospitals have a finite amount of space and staff, and we are near the limits of what they can do. Meanwhile, the number of critically-ill COVID patients continues to grow due to the post-holiday spike.
“We’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: It is absolutely vital that all Oklahomans do their part to slow the spread of this disease and avoid completely overloading our health care system.”
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COVID-19 deaths: These are some of the Oklahomans we’ve lost
COVID-19 deaths: These are some of the Oklahomans we've lost
Leanna Crutcher fought for family, change after son Terence's slaying
Pastor's wife. Mother. Music teacher. For much of her life, Leanna Crutcher was best known for those roles, which she pursued with quiet dedication.
But she had another side, as well. And when the situation demanded, it would show itself.
“Mom was a fighter. She’s where I got my fight from,” said Tiffany Crutcher, adding that everything changed for her mother after the loss of her son, Terence, in 2016.
Having witnessed her mother’s unlikely transformation into activist after her son was killed by police, Tiffany was not surprised to see that same fighting spirit come out again recently when facing COVID-19. But in the end, the virus proved too tough.
Leanna Crutcher, 67, died Jan. 14 of complications from COVID-19. She left behind her husband of 51 years, the Rev. Joey Crutcher, a daughter and son, and 10 grandchildren, including three of her late son’s children whom she was raising.
Debbie Rusher, EMSA paramedic
Debbie Rusher joined EMSA in 1999. Around Thanksgiving, her COVID-19 struggle became grave. Numerous EMSA colleagues and other workers with the Tulsa Police and Fire departments blared their lights outside Ascension St. John Medical Center in Tulsa to show their support for Rusher, who died Dec. 28 at 56.
Dr. Greg Gray, a doctor at Saint Francis Hospital South, wrote how Rusher was “out in our community working to help all of us” stay safe from COVID-19. How Rusher contracted the virus likely will remain unknown, he said, but he called her an “awesome, loving, caring paramedic” whose loss is “hitting our EMSA and EMS community HARD.”
Dr. Yee Se Ong
A longtime Muskogee physician who was the first cardiologist to set up a practice in the community, Dr. Yee Se Ong died Dec. 21 at Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa of complications from COVID-19.
For the past several months of the pandemic, Ong spent virtually every waking hour in the ICU at Saint Francis Hospital in Muskogee.
Ong was a native of Cabanatuan in the Philippines. He came to Muskogee in July 1979 and dedicated his life to caring for residents from the rural areas and small communities nearby.
Pam Rask, Tulsa Health Department
Pam Rask, 61, was serving as Tulsa Health Department's division chief of adolescent and child health when she died Dec. 26. A public Facebook post from relatives indicated Rask had been hospitalized and placed on a ventilator after testing positive for COVID-19.
Jimmy's Egg pioneer Loc Van Le
Loc Van Le, who purchased a single breakfast cafe in 1980 and turned it into a multi-state franchise, died of complications from the coronavirus Dec. 10, 2020. He was 75.
As it mourns the passing of its patriarch, the Le (pronounced Lee) family is keeping vigil for its matriarch Kim, who remains hospitalized with the virus.
Oklahoma education advocate Melvin Todd
Melvin R. Todd, Ph.D, died Dec. 2 after testing positive for COVID-19. He was 87.
Todd was one of Oklahoma’s most consequential educators, leaving a trailblazing legacy of leadership through racial integration.
Former longtime Oklahoma City pastor Nick Harris
The Rev. Nick Harris, former longtime minister of First United Methodist Church of Oklahoma City, died on Nov. 23. He was 81.
His life story intersected with the broader story of the tragedy of April 19, 1995, and the triumph of the "Oklahoma Standard" that prevailed in its aftermath.
Jerad Lindsey, Tulsa FOP chairman
Jerad Lindsey, 40, chairman of the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police, died in October after suffering complications of COVID-19, the agency reported.
He had started his career with Tulsa Police Department in 2005 and worked as patrol officer. He recently was serving also as Oklahoma Fraternal Order of Police vice president.
Lindsey is survived by his wife, Jennifer, and two sons.
Oklahoma City preservation leader Bill Gumerson
Bill Gumerson, 76, who co-founded Friends of the Mansion, a group that has helped support upkeep of the Governor’s Mansion, died on Thanksgiving from COVID-19.
As president of Preservation Oklahoma he led a successful capital campaign to renovate the Overholser Mansion.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Jeff Sewell
Capt. Jeff Sewell, 58, had been hospitalized since Sept. 5 due to COVID-19, and he died at Texoma Medical Center in Denison, Texas, on Sept. 26, according to a social media post.
“It is with deepest regret that the Oklahoma Highway Patrol announces the passing of one of our active duty members,” the agency wrote the post.
Tulsa Public Schools electrician Michael Angelo
Michael Angelo, an electrician who worked in the maintenance and plant operations department and joined Tulsa Public Schools in 2007, died in October and is the district’s first COVID-related death.
Angelo’s wife, Violet Angelo, also became ill from COVID-19 but has recovered. Violet Angelo is a custodian at TPS and joined the district in 2005.
Former Jenks East Elementary teacher Sandy Majors
From Michael Overall: "My Aunt Sandy — you might remember her as Sandra Majors, Ph.D., who taught for many years at Jenks East Elementary — tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-August."
She died Aug. 28.
QT employee Israel Sauz
Israel Sauz, a 22-year-old Broken Arrow resident, died in April. He left behind a wife of less than one year and their first child, a son born in March, among other family, friends, co-workers and even regular customers at the QuikTrip store where he worked east of downtown Tulsa.
Sauz, known as “Izzy” to some, was a night assistant manager at the QuikTrip at 1022 S. Utica Ave., and his death raised panic and outrage among fellow employees and some customers.
State's first COVID-19 death
A Tulsa County man became the state’s first resident to die from COVID-19 in mid-March, one day after he tested positive for the disease.
Tulsa County health officials said that it also was the first case of community spread in the county. The man was identified by friends and peers as Merle Dry.
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Corey Jones
Staff Writer
I am a general assignment reporter who predominately writes about public health, public safety and justice reform. I'm in journalism to help make this community, state, country and, ultimately, world a better place.
