COVID-19 wave overwhelms rural hospitals short on ICU beds

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The case of a rural Minnesota man who waited two days for an ICU bed and later died is among several examples that have frustrated officials in rural hospitals whose facilities are overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients.

Bob Cameron spent two days in his hometown hospital in Hallock, Minnesota, where caregivers searched nonstop for space in a larger hospital that could find and fix the source of his severe gastrointestinal bleeding and treat his COVID-19. A bed was secured Oct. 12 at Sanford Health in Fargo, North Dakota, but his condition worsened after surgery there to find the source of his bleeding.

The 87-year-old Cameron died Oct. 13.

During a three-week stretch this month, rural hospitals were caring for more COVID-19 patients than Twin Cities hospitals.