Infections caused by the delta move through rural southern Oregon ‘like a circular saw’

If you live in one of the rural communities nestled in the wooded hills along the Oregon-California border and need serious medical attention, you will likely end up at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center. It serves approximately nine counties on either side of the border.

The Asante system encompasses three hospitals in Rogue Valley, in the towns of Ashland, Medford and Grants Pass. The three intensive care units are 100% filled with COVID-19 patients, according to staff.

“We have had two deaths today. So this is a very dark and difficult time,” said Dr. Michael Blumhardt, medical director of intensive care, on a recent Tuesday in August.

Unlike previous phases of the pandemic, hospitals in Asante are now treating COVID-19 patients in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s, according to Blumhardt.

“We are seeing groups of families being admitted. We had a father and an adult daughter admitted to the intensive care unit, and he passed away just before I was due to put the girl on life support,” he said. declared.

Overall, vaccination rates in many states appear to be quite good. But zoom in and you’ll see a checkerboard effect with huge differences from county to county. Oregon is no different. In and around the Portland metro, two-thirds of all residents are fully immunized. But rural counties aren’t even close to that; many have vaccination rates below 50% or even 40%. Jackson County in southern Oregon is home to the largest number of unvaccinated people in the state. This pushes local hospitals to the limit.

Blumhardt d’Asante attributes the current outbreak to the highly transmissible delta variant, but also to the widespread rejection of the coronavirus vaccine in this area.

“It’s much more serious for this region than previous COVID waves,” he said. “The delta virus cuts through the region like a circular saw.”

Inside Medford’s Asante Intensive Care Unit, Chelsea Orr, a registered nurse, keeps a close watch on patients.

“We take care of a lot of ventilated patients here who are very sick,” Orr said.

What is different at this point in the pandemic, she added, is the incredible loss of life.

“It’s been really tough. We’re working harder than we’ve ever worked before and we’re still losing,” Orr said.

Another ICU nurse, Justin McCoy, agrees.

“I’ve been a critical care nurse for 10 years. I’ve never seen anything like it,” McCoy said. “It’s really terrible to see these patients who can’t breathe. It’s a very difficult thing to watch. It’s really terrifying for them, and it’s really difficult for us to see day in and day out.”

Blumhardt said the vast majority of Asante’s patients are not vaccinated.

“We admit nine unvaccinated people for each person vaccinated,” he said. “So it is clear that the vaccine protects against hospitalization.”

Jackson County has a record number of coronavirus infections. Within weeks, many of these people may get worse and need hospital care. Unfortunately, a new forecast from Oregon Health & Science University predicts that by Labor Day, the state will face a shortfall of 400 to 500 staffed hospital beds.

Blumhardt said small hospitals in Oregon were trying to transfer their sickest patients to Asante, but so far they have had to turn away around 200 people because they didn’t have the beds or the staff.

Even though Asante has already postponed some surgeries, the staff are simply exhausted, said Courtney Wilson, an emergency physician.

“I think people are frustrated,” Wilson said. “It’s disheartening that we have had a vaccine available for a very long time in this community and that we have a very low vaccination rate here.”

This month, Oregon Governor Kate Brown sent National Guard troops to overwhelmed counties to help with non-clinical tasks, such as cleaning hospital rooms, moving medical supplies. and traffic control. Some 150 soldiers were sent to southern Oregon. Medical officials from Asante and Providence, Rogue Valley’s other hospital system, have teamed up to ask the state to set up a 300-bed field hospital. The state also finalized a contract to deploy hundreds of medical “crisis teams” made up of nurses, respiratory therapists and paramedics from medical staffing companies to overwhelmed hospitals.

“I don’t know how we’re going to take care of everyone. That’s the main thing,” said Blumhardt. “We are all on the bridge at all levels of the organization.”

Residents of Jackson County are beginning to respond to the crisis. The rate of nine vaccinations here have increased and are now about double that of the Portland area. But thousands of people still need to be vaccinated to catch up.

This story was produced as part of NPR’s reporting partnership with Jefferson Public Radio and Kaiser Health News.