According to the Summit Daily, St. Anthony Summit Medical Center in Frisco, CO’s (Summit County) patient numbers are down about 50% for this time of year due to the closure of ski resorts due to Coronavirus.

“While the hospital braces for a potential surge in COVID-19 cases, Doucette reported that patient numbers have dropped significantly below what’s normal this time of year. In the emergency room, patient numbers are down about 50%, something Doucette attributed to the closure of ski areas. In a typical March, the hospital sees an influx of visitors with ski injuries and altitude sickness. With the visitors gone, the hospital is mainly serving local patients. It also has canceled all elective surgeries.” – Summit Daily, 3/27/20

St. Anthony’s is located in Frisco, CO which is 10 miles from Breckenridge ski resort – the #1 most visited ski resort in the USA.

Breckenridge ski resort, CO. image: breckenridge

Dr. Doucette goes on to report that St Anthony’s hasn’t experienced any staff nor supply shortages yet.

This all may change if the Coronavirus hits Summit County hard in the coming weeks.

When St. Anthony does have a critically ill patient, they generally transport that patient to Denver to get that patient out of the high elevation environment (less oxygen available) and to a higher level of care.

“Our critically ill patients that require intubation or ventilation on a ventilator or have very low oxygen levels, we are typically transferring to one of our partner facilities in the Denver area both to get them out of the high elevation and to facilitate a higher level of care in the ICU at a major hospital in Denver.” – St. Anthony Summit Medical Center emergency department medical director Dr. Marc Doucette told the Summit Daily