FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – The people with Parkview Health shared a plea with the community Friday, urging people to get vaccinated as the healthcare system has seen a steep increase in hospitalizations.

According to a statement from Parkview, emergency departments and walk-in clinics are experiencing longer-than-normal wait times. The system’s chief quality and safety officer told WANE 15 that the hospital has seen a ‘very very high’ amount of patients.

“We have very high capacity, both in our Parkview Regional Medical Center campus and our Randallia campus, as well as our community hospitals,” Dr. Jeff Boord said. “Although our patients are in rooms, just like you expect, the severity and complexity of their illness and the volume of patients, particularly those requiring critical care is very high right now.”

According to Boord, Parkview Regional Medical Center has doubled the footprint of its intensive care unit by expanding in the newly constructed south tower on the campus. As far as emergency rooms and walk-in clinics are concerned, there has been a large fluctuation in demand.

“We do have unprecedented volumes of patients presenting to both our walk-in clinics and our emergency departments throughout our health system and when you couple that with people who are coming in who are quite ill as well as the high volume of people presenting for care, this has led to an increase in wait times at certain times and places,” Boord added.

Boord also said that staffing is a concern in those places with open positions and staff members testing positive for COVID-19, constraints can appear. The health care system has yet to put elective procedures on hold, but are closely monitoring the schedule, to ensure things are not overbooked.

According to the statement released Friday, in anticipation of the authorization of COVID-19 booster vaccines, Parkview Health is currently in the process of re-establishing the Mirro Center for Research and Innovation as a mass vaccination location for the community. More information and details about hours of operation will be shared in the future.