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Huntington Hospital ‘exploding to the fullest,’ medics say, as preeminent San Gabriel Valley health facility finds itself in the same situation as hospitals across the country: Too many coronavirus patients, too few of medical providers and no end in sight.
New cases of coronavirus are increasing exponentially in Pasadena as the city records an average of 86 new cases per day from December 9 to 16, according to data analysis.
That’s 20 times more cases on average than eight weeks ago and twice as many cases as just two weeks ago, when it reported around 43 cases per day on average.
“If you’re interacting with 15 people right now, it’s very likely that one of those 15 people has COVID right now and they don’t even know it,” said Dr. Kimberly Shriner, infectious disease specialist at Huntington Hospital, in an interview on Thursday Dec. 17
“We’re exploding at the seams and people don’t realize how bad it is,” she said. “If the hospital cannot take care of people – and we are rapidly approaching this incapacity – it is a terrible situation for the community.
If someone has a heart attack, breaks an arm, or falls from a ladder – if someone needs medical attention for any reason, the hospital’s ability to provide that care could be seriously affected, a she declared. She urged everyone to stay home and limit their vacation plans to only immediate members of their household.
“We need the public’s help,” Shriner said. “This is your hospital. We’re here to serve you, but we need people to really take a look at your Christmas and New Years plans and think about the lives you can save if you are careful and keep your celebration to a minimum.
“It only means your immediate focus. Do not go to large gatherings. Don’t stop wearing your masks. Don’t go to big social situations. “
The hospital has 147 patients in its dedicated coronavirus unit, according to hospital data. Until this recent peak, the hospital’s high water mark was 79 patients on this unit in April.
The unit itself has been extended to several floors and taken over from other units, according to an email sent to volunteers at Huntington Hospital this morning and forwarded to this focus group.
The email described some steps the hospital has taken as part of its ramp-up plan, Shriner said.
Hospital workers have dedicated each floor of the facility’s east tower to coronavirus patients, while the interventional radiology unit transforms into an intensive care unit for non-coronavirus patients, the email said.
The pediatric intensive care unit has already been turned into a pulmonary intensive care unit, and they moved beds in the Braun auditorium – usually used for presentations – so it can be used as an observation unit.
Outside the hospital, workers have erected surge tents outside the emergency room to sort patients as they arrive, Shriner said. They separate patients with coronavirus from those with more typical illnesses.
The problem is not so much having enough space for patients; there are enough medical staff. As the virus increases across the country, there are fewer nurses, doctors and other medical staff who can get on the plane and help with staffing issues.
At Huntington Hospital, intensive care unit nurses who are normally responsible for one or two patients a day – sometimes three during a busy flu season – are now treating between three and five patients, Shriner said.
“It’s impossible,” she said. “This is when people die of things that they usually wouldn’t die of.
Shriner, who has fought viruses in rural Africa, said she had never seen anything like it in America.
“And every hospital experiences this,” she says. “To see him in a hospital as sophisticated and large as Huntington is hard to believe, but it is happening. … We are just begging people to think about their vacation. Limit them to the people you live with. Not people you know or your extended family. Just the people you live with, and even then be very, very careful.
The situation is taking its toll on the staff.
“I’ve never seen my colleagues – they’re nurses, doctors and administrators – I’ve never seen everyone so scared. They do their job and don’t hesitate, but the amount of anxiety is just awful.
“Our vision of the pandemic is what a pandemic is,” continued Shriner. “It’s scarier for us than it is for the public because we see it. We are the last stop, generally, for those dying of the disease.
As the hospital increases its peak capacity and staff struggle to maintain it, vaccine shipments finally arrived in Pasadena on Thursday, December 17.
The hospital will do a vaccine trial today and begin immunizing the rest of its staff on Friday. Within minutes of receiving their shots, staff members will immediately return to work, Shriner said.
“The virus doesn’t care whether it’s the holidays. The virus only cares about going to another person who is not immune, ”Shriner said. “He’s probably someone who is visiting your family for Christmas and New Years.”
Latest Pasadena cases and deaths
As of December 1, when this focus group last looked at the coronavirus situation in Pasadena, the city has reported 1,324 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, December 16.
To put that into perspective, analysis of the data shows that it took more than three months from August to mid-November for the city to drop from nearly 2,000 to 3,000 cases in total.
The city has reported nearly 2,000 new cases in the past four weeks alone; more than half have been counted in the past two weeks.
Following a well-established trend, the Latin American community sees three out of five new cases. At the same time, nine out of 10 new cases concern young people under the age of 40.
Here’s how the 1,324 new cases break down by race:
- 189 involved white patients, who have seen a total of 952 cases since the start of the pandemic.
- 683 concerned Latin American patients, a total of 2,563 cases since the start of the pandemic.
- 79 involved black or African-American patients, a total of 329 cases since the start of the pandemic.
- 54 involved patients from Asia or the Pacific Islands, a total of 298 cases since the start of the pandemic.
- 42 involved patients of another race, for a total of 146 cases since the start of the pandemic.
- 267 are still under investigation, bringing the backlog of investigations to 782 cases.
Here’s how these 1,324 new cases are broken down by age:
- 163 new cases involved patients under the age of 18, for a total of 488 cases since the start of the pandemic.
- 582 involved patients aged 18 to 40, a total of 2,077 since the start of the pandemic.
- 442 involved patients aged 41 to 64, a total of 1,580 since the start of the pandemic.
- 134 concern patients over 65, a total of 922 since the start of the pandemic.
There have been seven deaths in the community since December 1.
All were women, although six deaths involved residents of elderly care facilities, such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Five of the fatal cases involved white patients, one involved a black or African-American patient, and another involved an Asian or Pacific Islander patient.
The virus is spreading again in the city’s elderly care facilities, many of which had not reported new cases for weeks or months. While a handful of residents have been infected, the virus is mainly spreading among staff members, according to analysis of city data.
According to public health officials, 10 more workers at Camellia Gardens, a nursing home, have tested positive for the virus. This facility had the most new cases of any facility in Pasadena, but had not reported many infections until the most recent wave began. A total of 56 staff associated with the facility have now been infected at some point.
The facility has also seen two of six deaths in elderly care facilities, the data shows, although it is not known where the other four occurred.
Just over a dozen employees at five other facilities have also been infected with the virus in the past two weeks, including workers at Rose Garden Healthcare Center, Pasadena Grove Health Center, Pasadena Care Center, Pasadena Meadows Nursing Center, GEM Transitional Care Center and Brighton Care. Center.
A total of 5,070 residents have contracted COVID-19 in Pasadena since the start of the pandemic, although many have since recovered, while 139 have lost their lives while infected.
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