​​​COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Hospital Association sent a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine Thursday outlining the “dire situation” facing the state’s hospitals due to a rapid rise in COVID-19 patients, officials said. 

During a press conference Thursday, DeWine said he agrees with Mike Abrams, the hospital association’s president, that Ohio is in a crisis. DeWine said it was a “pretty scary" message to read.

According to the letter, many Ohio hospitals currently have record COVID-19 hospitalizations and intensive care unit bed utilization.

“Hospitals’ ability to treat all patients consistent with their normal standards is becoming increasingly difficult because their resources are being stretched so thin,” Abrams wrote on behalf of 245 member hospitals. “When hospital resources, including staff, are stretched so thin, hospitals’ ability to care for patients can be compromised.”

Some hospitals are diverting patients from their emergency departments because they’re full, while others have ambulances in the queue at the hospital to drop off a patient, waiting for a bed to become available. Meanwhile, scheduled surgeries and cancer treatments are being postponed.

“It is important to note that the strain on hospitals does not just impact COVID-19 patients. It affects all patients,” the letter said.

DeWine said it should concern all Ohioans that hospitals are this busy with coronavirus patients amid workforce shortages in health care.  

“In essence, their letter tells us that there are more patients, but fewer health care providers to care for those who are in the hospital,” DeWine said. 

Ohio reported 7,475 cases on Thursday and a seven-day average of 6,523 cases, while 3,700 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized, according to state data. 

DeWine said the solution to the COVID-19 crisis is to get more residents vaccinated. During Thursday’s press conference, he announced a new vaccine incentive for young residents, the “Vax-2-School” program.

“This is a very serious situation that we're facing in the state of Ohio. This is a crisis at this point,” DeWine said. “Vaccinations are the way that we stop our hospitals from being overcrowded.”

The governor said it’s troubling to think a family might take a child in need of medical care to an emergency room and not be seen for hours because their condition isn’t life-threatening.

Ohio Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, who joined DeWine Thursday, said vaccination is the “best defense for staying out of the hospital and for students to stay in the classroom.”

He said it’s good news that topline data released earlier this week for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in kids showed strong safety and efficacy. 

Vanderhoff also encouraged everyone to get the flu vaccine, and he shared an update about a recent case of swine flu in Ohio. 

He said it was the third report of the A(H1N2)v strain in the U.S. this year. The patient recovered without hospitalization. 

“This case was identified promptly and case investigation along with isolation nipped it in the bud, assuring there was no ongoing human-to-human transmission,” Vanderhoff said.