NEWS: Integris Health plans to open its Portland Avenue campus to house COVID patients as its other locations are nearing capacity, hospital officials tell me.

Hospital officials say they may need the beds as soon as today.

The Portland Avenue location was at one point part of the state's surge plan in case metro hospitals began to near capacity.

That agreement between Integris and the state ran out at the end of June, Integris says.

Instead, Integris will be using the beds there for its own COVID patients.

In an interview, hospital officials tell me they currently have 95 coronavirus patients system-wide at last check. The COVID units specifically at their largest locations are the ones "bumping up" to capacity.

This plan will allow the hospital system to continue to treat COVID patients and non-COVID patients who continue to need services, officials say.

Integris Chief Medical Officer Dr. Julie Watson on mask-wearing:

"It's not just about protecting yourself, it's also about protecting the healthcare workers and the resources that we need to be able to continue to provide the full spectrum of care for *all* of our patients."

A spokesperson for OU Med says they still have beds available and are not diverting patients at this time. They reevaluate every day.

Integris spokesperson confirms that they will be opening COVID beds TODAY at Baptist Portland. The biggest concern is about the NW Expressway campus, which is "experiencing capacity constraints," she says.

She also says the state terminated its lease (related to the Level 2 Surge Plan) on that location as of June 30 since it appeared at the end of May that "Oklahoma would not be experiencing a significant surge."

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Because the future course of COVID is so unpredictable, Integris says it gave the state a "reactivation option" it could exercise at any point for the rest of the year. No new agreement has been reached, she said.

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That's all from Integris spokesperson Brooke Cayot