Tulsa Hospital Adds Temporary Morgue To Handle Increased Need

An increasing number of deaths, largely caused by COVID-19, is straining resources at funeral homes, and at hospitals where critical patients are dying.

While the number of patients with COVID-19 continues to strain healthcare resources, the numbers of patients who die is creating stress on funeral homes handling the surge of deaths.

At Moore’s Funeral Home in Tulsa, owner Joe Moore said August was their second busiest month, only behind December, 2020 – before there was a vaccine available.

“But now we are seeing younger people passing away. We've had people in their 20's, 30's, and 50's is not uncommon now," Moore said.

In August, 480 Oklahomans died of COVID-19. As of Thursday, 1,511 Oklahomans are in hospitals, and 420 of them in ICU with COVID-19.

In Tulsa, the death toll prompted Hillcrest Hospital South to bring in refrigerated trailers, backed up to the loading dock, for extra morgue space. A Hillcrest spokesperson said with increased COVID-19 rates and mortality, the hospital had to expand resources and capacity.

"Hospitals work closely with funeral homes to ensure patients and families are taken care of,” said Rachel Weaver-Smith, with Hillcrest. “In this event, that includes expanding the size of our morgue as a service to our partners during this latest large surge."

“Deaths invariably increase with hospitalizations, so for the last five to six weeks, August into September, we've seen a big increase in the number of people we're taking care of with COVID," Moore, a retired physician, said.

Moore said the extra deaths can delay final services, even if it's just a traditional burial, because of delays in state permits for cremation and out of state transfers. The wait is longest when the medical examiner needs to conduct an autopsy, but even routine paperwork, like death certificates, is taking longer than before the pandemic.