A national scorecard on how hospitals and state health systems fared during the COVID pandemic ranked Alabama last because of its low vaccination rate, hospital stress levels and high numbers of excess deaths.
The Commonwealth Fund, an organization that studies health care performance and access, ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia on seven measures related to COVID. Alabama hospitals had the second-highest number of days of ICU stress behind Texas and the highest number of days with staffing shortages.
The state also had the second lowest percentage of adults who are fully vaccinated and boosted. As of June 22, 2022, the CDC shows 61.6% of Alabama adults are fully vaccinated, ahead of just Wyoming at 61.3%. The Commonwealth Fund also found Alabama had the third highest rate of COVID-related excess deaths.
Health systems in Hawaii, Maine and Vermont performed best during the COVID pandemic, according to the Commonwealth Fund. The three worst-performing states were Kentucky, Oklahoma and Alabama.
“To be sure, COVID-19 has challenged the health care system in all states,” read a press release from the Commonwealth Fund. “Still, many states have been able to maintain a high level of performance in the face of crisis.”
Researchers at the Commonwealth Fund also ranked overall performance of state health systems. Alabama fared a little better on that scorecard, ranking 46th out of 51.
The scorecard also measured the number of days hospital intensive care units were at 80 percent capacity or more. Texas hospitals met or exceeded that capacity for 566 days, followed by Alabama, where hospital ICUs remained full or nearly full for 516 days.
The number of excess deaths linked to the pandemic ranged from 110 per 100,000 residents in Hawaii to 596 per 100,000 residents in Mississippi. In Alabama, the rate of excess deaths was 503.4 per 100,000 and included deaths both directly and indirectly attributable to COVID-19.
The report urges state and national officials and hospitals to develop comprehensive pandemic response plans. It also encourages leaders in the U.S. to create a fallback health coverage option for low-income people in states like Alabama that have not expanded Medicaid.
