Mount Nittany Medical Center resumes normal emergency operations after diverting patients

Mount Nittany Medical Center reached a tipping point Thursday night after months of warnings about an unceasing increase in the amount of patients that required care.

The only hospital in Centre County did not accept ambulances Thursday night, Mount Nittany Medical Center’s chief medical officer wrote in a statement.

“This is a consequence of the trends we have been noting in recent weeks, namely the ongoing elevated levels of COVID transmission in the community, high numbers of COVID hospitalizations and continued difficulty in discharging patients to area long-term care facilities due to their capacity constraints,” Upendra Thaker wrote.

According to a Mount Nittany Health spokesperson, the hospital began accepting ambulances again Friday morning.

Southern Alleghenies EMS Council wrote in a Facebook post Thursday night that EMS agencies were told to seek the next closest appropriate emergency department, which would be dozens of miles away and outside Centre County.

The hospital reported 53 patients hospitalized with the coronavirus as of Thursday. Seven were in the intensive care unit. About 63% of those hospitalized with the disease are not vaccinated.

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