Houston hospitals stop updating key metrics after Governor Abbott complaints

After predicting that the incoming COVID-19 caseload would exceed an “unsustainable surge capacity” of ICU beds by July 6, for several days in late June Texas Medical Center hospitals stopped updating key metrics. The gap followed complaints by Texas governor Greg Abbott about negative headlines regarding ICu capacity. When TMC resumed publishing the data, it had deleted eight of the 17 slides it had been updating daily for three months. After the Houston Chronicle highlighted the missing charts, TMC posted updated data. Abbott’s spokespeople say the governor did not suggest the executives publish less data.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-hospitals-hit-100-base-ICU-capacity-15372256.php
Writer: Mike Morris and Zach Despart
Publication: Houston Chronicle