Texas Medical Centers halted reporting coronavirus updates after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott expressed displeasure with negative headlines about ICU capacity to hospital executives, reports the Houston Chronicle.
Abbott last week touted "abundant" hospital capacity as the amount of positive coronavirus cases reached a record high, though some hospital officials reported intensive care units were at or near capacity.
A Texas Medical Center model on June 24 predicted ICU surge capacity could be exceeded as soon as July 6 if the steep rate of new COVID-19 hospitalizations continues. But TMC hospitals have since stopped reporting key metrics showing how much stress COVID-19 patients are placing on their facilities.
TMC then deleted charts from its online dashboard and four of the 11 TMC CEOs held a press conference attempting to tamp down the concern.
Houston Methodist CEO Dr. Marc Boom said hospital leaders wound up "unintentionally sounding an alarm bell too loudly."
Abbott spokesman John Wittman denied the Chronicle's report insinuating a direct relationship between Abbott's conversation with executives and TMC halting its reporting.
"The governor's office believes all hospitals should be reporting accurate data to the state and to the public as often as possible," Wittman said. "We demanded more information to share, not less."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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