After sinking to their lowest level in months, the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Park County shot back up to record levels in a matter of days.

As of Tuesday, a total of 15 people were reportedly hospitalized with COVID-19 in the county — 11 at Cody Regional Health and four at Powell Valley Healthcare. That tied the high-water mark for the pandemic. It also represented a significant increase from the total of five patients who were hospitalized between the Cody and Powell hospitals on Saturday — which was the lowest number of COVID hospitalizations recorded since late November.

Park County Health Officer Dr. Aaron Billin, whose primary job is as an emergency room doctor at Powell Valley Healthcare, said Saturday that the hospital “has been full on several occasions due to COVID-19.”

“We have been taking care of sicker patients than we are accustomed to, because options for transfer have been limited,” Billin said of PVHC. “Our referral hospitals have also been at or near capacity.”

He said that, at one point, the Powell hospital considered having COVID-19-positive nurses continue working in the COVID unit “because there was no one else.”

“The hospital is currently depending on contracting with traveling nurses and CNAs to meet the need,” Billin said.

With the four COVID-19 patients on Tuesday, PVHC was below its high mark of seven.

Across the state, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Wyoming facilities fell from a peak of 247 patients on Nov. 30 down to 95 on Jan. 1. The count had ticked back up to 114 patients on Tuesday.

—By CJ Baker