LINCOLN- Bryan Health officials made a grim announcement Thursday regarding the health system's capacity.

"Bryan Medical Center is full," said Bob Ravenscroft, vice president of advancement for the Lincoln health-care system.

Because of its high patient numbers and trouble finding enough staff, Bryan this week decided to postpone certain elective surgeries.

Essentially, any elective surgery that requires an overnight stay, has not already been scheduled and can safely be postponed for 30 days will not be scheduled until further notice. Outpatient surgeries are not affected, and any surgeries that were already scheduled will go forward, officials said.

Bryan implemented the change Tuesday and already has seen results, said John Woodrich, president and CEO of Bryan Medical Center.

On that day, Bryan had 578 patients in its two hospitals and another 30 in the emergency rooms waiting for a bed. By Wednesday, that number dropped to 565, and Thursday, it was at 541.

The restrictions on elective surgeries, while providing temporary relief, are not a long-term solution to what Bryan officials said is likely to be the worst surge of patients of the whole pandemic. Bryan on Thursday had 66 total COVID-19 patients, 61 of whom, or 91%, were not fully vaccinated against the disease. There were 17 patients in intensive care, 16 of them unvaccinated, and 15 on ventilators, 14 of whom were not vaccinated

"I truly believe these numbers are going to exceed what we saw last November," Woodrich said, noting he bases that on what has happened in other, mostly Southern states, that saw their current surges start several weeks earlier.

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