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“As an industry we are seeing a decrease in the healthcare workforce this year, this is probably in part due to the constraints of the pandemic,” she told the Herald this week via email. “We know our team is tired and this is one of the reasons we are urgently calling on our community to get vaccinated, to protect themselves and to protect our health resources.”
Across the county, the number of active COVID-19 cases rose from a dozen in early July to 181 people as of Tuesday, August 31. Meanwhile, the proportion of tests for the virus that come back positive has risen from less than 1% to 5.7. %. About 21 people a day over the past week have tested positive for COVID-19.
“We knew there would be an increase in cases,” Michael Dulitz, senior COVID-19 data analyst at Grand Forks Public Health, told the Herald. “We were hoping it would be more of a bump or a blip than something that looks like it has teeth.”
He pointed to a statewide increase in “breakthrough” coronavirus cases in which someone catches the virus despite being fully vaccinated. The North Dakota Department of Health recently began publishing statewide data on these cases. This indicates that unvaccinated people constitute significantly more cases of COVID than their vaccinated counterparts, but the absolute numbers for both rose further in August.
Overall, state employees report, one in 175 vaccinated North Dakota residents nonetheless tested positive, compared to one in 15 unvaccinated residents. Tiny fractions of vaccinated residents have been hospitalized or killed by the virus. .
At a press conference Wednesday morning, Sept. 1, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum said this year’s large summer increase was creating staffing problems for hospitals. He noted that the traveling nursing workforce, which local hospitals relied on last year, is still busy in the southeast due to the large increase in the number of cases there.
Hamscher told the Herald that Altru is currently recruiting around 100 registered inpatient nurses, among other roles. Despite rumors, Hamscher said the healthcare organization has not seen a significant portion of its workforce leave due to the hospital’s vaccine needs, and Altru continues to work with those who choose to submit. exemptions to receive the vaccine.
As of Tuesday, August 31, Altru reported that 12 COVID patients had been admitted to hospital, three of whom were in intensive care and two on ventilators. Of those 12 patients, only one was vaccinated, Hamscher said. This is in line with the trend seen by Altru in recent months: 91% of its COVID hospital patients have not been vaccinated since February, when vaccines became widely available to the general public.
Also on Tuesday, Hamscher told the Herald that Altru has a staffed hospital bed and a staffed intensive care bed. She noted that those numbers can change hourly – but Altru has noted a slow increase in the daily number of COVID patients over the past month. In July, she said, Altru admitted two COVID patients all month.
Hospitalizations are also seen as a lagging indicator, and these numbers are expected to rise rapidly in the coming weeks due to the emergence of the highly contagious Delta variant in North Dakota. The hospital is closely monitoring these trends, Hamscher told the Herald.
At the press conference, where she appeared with other health officials as well as the governor, on Wednesday morning, Hamscher noted that the 14-day slippery positivity rate in Grand Forks had reached all-time highs since April. , with no sign that it will be coming down anytime soon.
“If we see an increase in the number of COVID patients, we will implement our planning for the increase, which could result in the suspension of elective surgeries or clinical appointments, if we need these resources to support the hospital, ”she said.
Some large hospitals in the state have already started cutting back on surgeries, health officials said at the press conference. As beds fill up and staff run out, Altru recently sent patients to hospitals as far away from Minneapolis for care, and in turn accepted patients from other full hospitals when possible.
“We are collaborating, as a health care entity, across the state to provide care to the citizens of North Dakota, but we really don’t have unlimited resources,” she said. of the press conference. “I appeal to individuals to truly take personal responsibility for protecting themselves from COVID by getting vaccinated. Our bed staff is really limited, and we know that is going to be challenging for us.”
Hamscher stressed that it is important for community members to continue seeking care for all health needs, as delaying care can be very dangerous.
To find a COVID-19 vaccine appointment near you, visit www.vaccinefinder.org.
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