DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - With the surge of new COVID cases, central Illinois hospital systems are seeing more ICU beds being filled.

Illinois Director of Public Health Dr. Ngozi Ezike warned Illinoisans that if the numbers continue the way they are, there could be no more beds available.

"Regions three and six could run out of ICU beds in mid-September if the number of people being admitted to the hospital everyday continues at its current rate," she said. 

HSHS Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Mark Shelton said his hospitals have been impacted by the surge. 

"Like the other hospitals in our areas of Central and Southern Illinois the ICU capacities are strained," Shelton said. 

They have been prepared in case of a potential surge but the extra equipment could not prepare them for the real issue: lack of staff.

"All of the hospitals in our regions over the past several months have increased their numbers of ventilators and closets ready to go in case they're needed it's really about the most important thing is the staffing."

Shelton said the main staffing issue is having enough nurses to take care of the patients.

"The biggest challenge is adequate nurses to take care of incremental patients and so the most important thing is really number of staffed beds at a given time."

Memorial Health Systems said their main issue is having enough caregivers to provide for all patients with COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 issues.