PHOENIX — Gov. Doug Ducey ordered Arizona hospitals to come up with plans to increase bed capacity by 50% within the next month and to have half of those new beds ready by April 10.

Ducey’s executive order Wednesday came a day after state health director Dr. Cara Christ said the current supply of hospital beds likely won’t meet the needs, given how many Arizonans will need treatment for COVID-19.

The state will need twice as many intensive-care unit beds as its current 1,500 and an 87% increase in its 15,000 regular beds, she said.

Christ estimated the number of people infected in Arizona should peak next month, with the maximum number of hospitalizations in May.

Ducey’s order also:

  • Requires pediatric hospitals to admit patients up to age 21. The only exception would be for labor and delivery admissions.
  • Says that private insurance companies, and plans that provide Medicaid coverage in Arizona, cannot refuse to pay for certain covered services simply because the patient was in an uncertified “surge capacity” bed. Those requirements are in place for 180 days.

The 50% increase will not meet what Christ said is likely needed in hospital beds, acknowledged Ducey press aide Patrick Ptak.

But he said state officials are working with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to set up temporary facilities as needed.

The governor’s order should not be a surprise for hospitals, Ptak said.

“The Department of Health Services has worked with our hospitals and health-care providers on emergency operations plans to have in place,” he said.

Ptak said hospitals received funding from the state to have those plans in place.

There may be unused space out there, he said.

“I have heard that brought up before, that certain places have moved into new buildings and now they don’t use floors 4 through 8,” Ptak said.

There’s also the possibility of converting wings now used for elective surgery for acute care, especially since Ducey previously said elective surgeries should not be conducted during the coronavirus emergency, in order to save equipment like masks and gowns.

Christ already told hospitals that, to the extent possible, they should send patients who do not need hospital care for COVID-19 to other facilities.

There was no immediate response from the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association.

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