ELMHURST, QUEENS — City and state officials are scrambling to prepare for a tidal wave of COVID-19 cases that threatens to overwhelm local hospitals but, at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, that wave may have already hit the shore.

Elmhurst Hospital, which is part of the city's municipal hospital system, is already running at more than 125-percent capacity compared to its typical 80-percent capacity rate, according to a source who was briefed by a top Health + Hospitals official on the situation. Twelve coronavirus patients died overnight Monday at Elmhurst Hospital, according to the source, who asked to remain anonymous to speak candidly about a private conversation.

Health + Hospitals Deputy Press Secretary Stephanie Guzmán disputed that number and declined to share specifics about current capacity at Elmhurst Hospital for this article. But, the next day, shortly after THE CITY also published an article on the situation at Elmhurst Hospital, the hospital system released an updated statement noting that 13 patients had died in a 24-hour period, which a spokesperson said is "consistent with the number of ICU patients being treated there."



"Staff are doing everything in our power to save every person who contracts COVID-19, but unfortunately this virus continues to take an especially terrible toll on the elderly and people with preexisting conditions," Guzmán, the hospital spokesperson, said. "Elmhurst is at the center of this crisis, and it's the number one priority of our public hospital system right now," she said.



Elmhurst Hospital has added 25 staffers since Tuesday and a number of ventilators, according to City Council Member Francisco Moya, who used to work at the hospital.

Mayor Bill de Blasio first drew public attention to the situation at Elmhurst Hospital during an interview Monday on 1010 WINS, when he said the hospital "has had an extraordinary amount of activity."

"It's been very tough for Elmhurst Hospital," de Blasio said. "I want to say that the folks who work there, all the medical personnel, all the staff that work there, they've been extraordinary, keeping up with a really tough situation." Reached for comment Tuesday, the Health + Hospitals spokesperson noted only that some locations in the city's hospital system are seeing more patients than others.