The Democratic candidate challenging Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert (R) went viral last week after posting a photo claiming the hospital where she works is “at capacity” with “almost all unvaccinated” patients, using the claim to attack Boebert.
But the challenger is a veterinarian who moonlights as a physical therapist at a hospital in Wyoming.
What did the viral post say?
Dr. Debby Burnett, who is running for Colorado’s third congressional district, posted a photo from a dark room last Tuesday and claimed the intensive care unit at the hospital where she works — the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center in Wyoming — is at capacity with COVID-infected patients.
She then attacked Boebert for “lies & misinformation about the vaccine.”
“I work on the COVID floor at my hospital. It’s full. The entire floor + the ICU are at capacity w/ COVID patients — almost all unvaccinated,” Burnett said. “Our district has one of the lowest vaccination rates because our rep Lauren Boebert spreads lies & misinformation about the vaccine.”
I work on the COVID floor at my hospital. It’s full.
The entire floor + the ICU are at capacity w/ COVID patients… https://t.co/0JMsezUWn6
— Dr. Debby Burnett for Colorado (@Dr. Debby Burnett for Colorado)1627402873.0
“To all the Boebert supporters asking why a veterinarian works on the COVID floor of a hospital — I am also a licensed Physical Therapist who has worked at my hospital for over 11 years. My hospital, like most nationwide, have PT’s on their COVID floors helping patients recover,” Burnett added in a separate tweet.
Burnett’s LinkedIn page indicates she lives in Walden, Colorado, which is near the Colorado-Wyoming border.
What does the data show?
Aside from the fact that Burnett’s LinkedIn page indicates she works at a hospital in Wyoming — which, of course, is not located in Boebert’s congressional district — data show that neither Wyoming nor Colorado are reaching ICU capacity.
In fact, Laramie County, which is where the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, is only at 55% ICU capacity. The county reportedly as 25 ICU adult beds, 12 of which are occupied by COVID patients; just one bed is occupied by a non-COVID patient.
Colorado, on the other hand, is at just 66% ICU capacity, most of which are patients not suffering from COVID-19. Only 102 of 1,346 adult ICU beds are currently occupied by COVID patients.
No data show that either Laramie County or Colorado ever reached its ICU capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic.