[ad_1]
[This article is by Andy Miller, the publisher of Georgia Health News. It was first published on September 9, 2021, by Georgia Health News, and is used with permission]
Since it hit the United States a year and a half ago, the Covid The pandemic has resulted in several significant shortages in patient care, from personal protective equipment to hospital staff.
Hospital officials say a new shortage has arisen in Georgia: oxygen concentrators, which are devices that give a patient extra oxygen.
The Georgia Hospital Association said on Thursday that some of the state’s large hospitals with heavy loads of Covid were struggling to get the machines for patients ready to be discharged.
This can exacerbate a backlog of patients in hospitals. Instead of going home, patients who will not have offsite access to oxygen machines “must be kept in the hospital,” said Anna Adams, a GHA executive. And while they remain hospitalized, these patients will use resources that could be used for more seriously ill people, she added.
Medical resources continue to be strained statewide as pandemic numbers reach alarming levels, driven by the contagious Delta variant.
The state reported Thursday that 98% of intensive care beds in Georgia are full.
Public health also reported 155 Covid deaths on Thursday, among the highest number of virus deaths recorded in a single day in the state. Georgia has the 10th highest rate of new Covid infections in the seven days, but its daily virus death rate is the fourth, according to data from the New York Times.
With beds full and staff stretched, hospital systems are cutting back on elective surgeries to focus on the burden of Covid. Atlanta’s Grady Health System has canceled all outpatient surgeries and procedures to deal with the continuing increase. Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare said it was suspending elective surgeries in some locations.
One in three patients currently in hospitals in Georgia has Covid.
Staff shortages, meanwhile, have helped make this Covid surge the worst of the four so far, hospital officials say. The Georgia Nurses Association calls the current nursing shortage the worst in state history.
“We are overwhelmed,” said Jimmy Lewis, CEO of HomeTown Health, an association of rural hospitals in the state.
Hospitals have many licensed beds that cannot be used due to understaffing, he added.
This increase has also led to a record increase in Covid infections and hospitalizations among children.
Atlanta Children’s Healthcare reported Thursday that it has 37 patients hospitalized in its system for acute or active Covid, and 20 others who continue to receive care for Covid-related conditions.
“What we are seeing indicates that obesity in unvaccinated children aged 12 and over and a history of asthma at all ages are factors that put a child at the highest risk of being hospitalized with Covid.” said Jennifer Burkhardt, spokesperson for Children’s Healthcare. “It is important to note that these most vulnerable groups of children could be protected by increasing immunizations in children 12 years of age and older and adults eligible for the vaccine.”
Children’s also sees higher volumes in emergency departments and emergency care centers due to a variety of respiratory viruses, including RSV.
Separately, Georgia’s Department of Public Health said the Mu variant of Covid has entered the state. There had been less than 50 cases of this variant reported here on Wednesday.
The Mu variant is a strain of the coronavirus first identified in Colombia in January. Since then, it has caused isolated epidemics elsewhere in South America, as well as in Europe and the United States.
But Mu currently represents only a few cases of Covid, with Delta being the main driver of infections.Follow Georgia Health News
Sign up for Georgia Health News free email alerts and follow them on Facebook and on Twitter @gahealthnews.
Help Georgia Health News fulfill its nonprofit mission with a tax deductible donation!
Andy miller
Andy Miller is editor and CEO of Georgia Health News
[ad_2]
Source link