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TR FILE PHOTO – Marshalltown medical facilities stretched as people continue to refuse COVID-19 vaccine. Hospital and city officials are urging people to get vaccinated.
Some Marshalltown residents have posted their opinions on COVID-19 vaccines online and others have taken notice.
Dr Lance Van Gundy went viral on September 2 after posting a live Facebook thread on how people should get vaccinated as there are no more rooms in hospitals in Iowa.
Mayor Joel Greer asked his private Facebook page on Wednesday whether or not people who have not received the COVID-19 vaccine deserve to receive medical treatment.
“If the unvaccinated don’t trust science and doctors, do they deserve medical care when they have covid, especially when others in need of emergency care are turned away because emergencies are full? and fans are not available? he wrote.
Greer said he wrote the post because of his concern about the large number of people not getting vaccinated. However, he stressed that he didn’t think people should be denied medical treatment. When some people, however, are sent to hospital with injuries and there is no room because the beds are filled with unvaccinated COVID-19 patients, Greer asked if that was fair.
Van Gundy
“Do people who protect themselves deserve more treatment? “ He asked.
While this is a valid question, UnityPoint – Hospital physician Lance VanGundy said it was not the right one.
“The questions we should be asking ourselves are how can we beat this virus and how should we move forward?” he said. “I understand the anger and fear behind the question, but putting energy into the other questions is the only way to win.”
VanGundy has estimated that 25% of hospital beds are filled with COVID-19 patients. Of these, he said, 88% are unvaccinated and require long-term care. Patients are normally released after a few days, depending on the state, from the hospital, but he said intubated COVID-19 patients can occupy a bed for 14 days.
VanGundy’s Facebook post in which he lists various patients whose beds have been delayed due to COVID patients led to him being interviewed by CNN, NBC, Newsweek and the BBC. Although he appreciates the attention, his intention is to get people vaccinated.
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The doctor had to keep patients with heart attacks, strokes, and even meningitis, which is an infection of the membrane surrounding the brain and spinal cord. VanGundy pointed out that the meningitis case was not the contagious viral form.
However, it took a long time for VanGundy to locate an intensive care unit (ICU) bed to place the patient there. Normally he said the patient would have gone to the ICU and then to a neurosurgical team. VanGundy eventually located a hospital in Cedar Rapids that had room.
“It took me four to five hours to work on the phone and he had no place to go”, he said.
The Iowa medical system is not at a point where people will be denied care because of its severity. However, VanGundy said it could happen.
“We are coming to a place where we will have to hold resources”, he said.
VanGundy said it was done in places like Louisiana where there was no electricity after Hurricane Ida, and New York where the system was overwhelmed. He said the Iowa system could very well be overwhelmed as well – especially as medical facilities face a severe shortage of nurses.
“There was a national nursing shortage before COVID, and then it got worse. Many of them have retired. I think COVID scared them ”, said VanGundy. “It was a double whammy.”
The mayor of Marshalltown and the emergency room doctor both urged people to get vaccinated.
“We are all in there,” said VanGundy. “If you don’t get the vaccine, you hit your neighbor, my father, and that directly contributes to the lack of resources. “
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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 or [email protected].
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TR FILE PHOTO – Marshalltown medical facilities stretched as people continue to refuse COVID-19 vaccine. Hospital and city officials are urging people to get vaccinated.
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