Nearly three years into the fight against COVID-19, we’re still seeing surges and facing capacity concerns in our hospitals—this time stemming from the triple threat of COVID, flu, and RSV, among other respiratory illnesses.

As we head into flu and respiratory illness season, already there are record numbers of patients overflowing emergency departments and pediatric ICUs. We’re likely to continue to feel the strain throughout the fall and winter, particularly if we see another cold-weather COVID spike.

We aim to help you preserve limited resources and peoplepower for the sickest patients—those who truly need hospital care.

To support your hospitals, Gov. Larry Hogan recently announced new mitigation actions and asked hospitals to use the $25 million state investment to prioritize pediatric ICU staffing. MHA continues to advocate for even more support.

In addition, we are encouraging the public to visit hospitals only when truly needed and reminding Marylanders to seek care for less serious illnesses from their primary care providers or in urgent care or telehealth settings. Our “Know Where to Go” messaging is available on MHA’s website, and we will share these messages and tools with your communications teams.

We also are collaborating with other organizations and looking for more partners to help us spread the word about how the public can help Maryland hospitals—and themselves—through this new “triple-demic.”

We’ll keep you posted on our efforts, and we hope you’ll continue to tell us about the situation on the ground.

Bob Atlas
President & CEO