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KALAMAZOO, MI – The two main hospitals in Kalamazoo exceeded 90% of their capacity on Thursday, November 19.
Medical directors from Bronson Methodist, Ascension Borgess and Oaklawn Hospitals gathered in a virtual panel discussion Thursday to talk about capacity, staffing and regional trends in Kalamazoo and Calhoun counties.
Dr Summer Liston-Crandall, medical director of Oaklawn Medical Group, said it took some time for community members in Calhoun County to recognize that COVID-19 has spread to medium-sized towns and cities and smaller, like Battle Creek and Marshall.
“It took some pretty hard-hitting news and headlines for our colleagues and neighbors to start hearing this; he’s here, ”she said. “We had been hearing for a long time: ‘Oh, this is elsewhere’. I think we would all like to think of it, but it is here.
The positivity rate of those tested for the coronavirus at Marshall Hospital in Oaklawn has been over 20% for a week or more, Liston-Crandall said.
Data from the MI Safe Start card from Nov. 15 shows Kalamazoo County has a positivity rate of 12.7% and 544 new daily cases per million people. Calhoun County’s positivity rate is 14.6% and 585 new daily cases per million daily.
“We really hear the concern and I think ultimately our audience is too,” Liston-Crandall said.
Dr Thomas Rohs, chief medical officer of Ascension Borgess, stressed that the virus is not isolated. The hospitals in Kalamazoo serve as regional health facilities, Rohs pointed out, meaning they accept patients from neighboring counties as well as Kalamazoo County.
Rohs and Dr Martinson Arnan, clinical director of Bronson Healthcare, said internal tests at their hospitals show much higher positivity rates than the Kalamazoo County rate, due to this mix of patients of greater region.
“It is very present in our less densely populated communities and everyone needs to pay attention to it,” Rohs said. “Even if you are in a small town and think you are a little out of the way. Nowhere is more immune. It is no longer a disease of urbanity or of being in the city, as it was in the spring.
Being larger hospitals allows Bronson and Borgess to be flexible in terms of capacity – both in terms of physical space and number of beds, the medical directors said.
As of Thursday, Bronson Methodist Hospital in downtown Kalamazoo was operating at 93% of capacity with 59 coronavirus patients. Ascension Borgess was operating at 91% of capacity with 37 coronavirus patients, according to state data.
Marshall’s Oaklawn Hospital doesn’t have the same flexibility, Liston-Crandall said. The hospital has started delaying procedures such as colonoscopies so that the space and staff can be used for coronavirus patients, she said.
Oaklawn was operating at 58% capacity on Thursday and treating 11 coronavirus patients, state data showed.
“We had to be a little nimble to meet the demands,” Liston-Crandall said. “We had to contact our community partners like Bronson and Borgess to transfer patients we didn’t have room for.
Staffing also remains a pressure for Bronson and Borgess. Both hospitals are asking nurses with previous bedside experience to leave their current position in quality care or administrative work to return to roles in bedside care.
“We see extraordinary sacrifices from so many people as a way to leverage the skills that are within the system,” said Arnan. “Doing your part to ensure the safety and security of your neighbors, to ensure the safety of vulnerable members of your family, is your way of saying, I appreciated this sacrifice.”
As hospital systems evolve to accommodate the growing number of coronavirus patients, the three medical directors had a clear message to the public: do not give up care for fear of contracting the coronavirus.
In Borgess, Rohs said, the number of emergency rooms has already started to decline after the latest public health order was announced on Sunday.
Hospitals want to avoid shutting down the health care system entirely and creating a backlog of patients who need regular treatment, like what happened in the spring.
The main difference between the spring and fall surges is that hospitals now have a better understanding of the virus and are better prepared to separate coronavirus patients from other wings of the hospital, medical directors said. They fear that people with severe symptoms of the virus or other medical conditions will delay medical care.
“If you have any alarming symptoms, don’t try to drive it home,” Rohs said. “If you come to the hospital, we’ll protect you. We have the capacity to take care of you. It’s different from what it was in the spring; it’s better than spring.
Hospital directors were optimistic that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines exceeded 90% efficacy in their trials. All three directors expressed confidence in the upcoming vaccines.
“I think people need to understand that it is a miracle that the vaccine was developed so quickly,” Arnan said. “It’s also because a lot of the bureaucratic stuff that sometimes slows things down has been done away with, but the science has never been diluted.”
Pfizer’s Portage plant will be one of the company’s main distribution centers, and the Kalamazoo County Health Department has been selected as the regional storage and distribution center.
Bronson, Borgess and Oaklawn have all ordered ultra-cold freezers so they can store vaccine doses that require storage in temperatures of minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit.
The state health department’s distribution plan is among the first group of health professionals who are eligible for the vaccine before enough is produced for mass distribution.
“I would honestly be the first in line to have one if I can be,” Rohs said. “And I’ll put my family in line in front of me if I can.”
Even with a light at the end of the tunnel, Arnan warned the community not to be disappointed with the good news. The general message from the three medical directors was that the coronavirus will continue to spread at high rates unless individuals change their behavior.
“Being the keeper of our brothers or sisters means that if I protect myself, maybe I could protect someone else who might be more vulnerable than me, who might not survive it,” Arnan said. “Let’s work hard to do what we can not only for ourselves, but for the people around us.”
Learn more about MLive:
Kalamazoo hospitals ban visitors to reduce coronavirus risk
Pfizer’s Coronavirus Vaccine Now 95% Effective, Company Announces
Western Michigan Prepares For Storage And Distribution Of Coronavirus Vaccines
Western Michigan hospitals are more familiar with the virus now, but do they have enough staff for another outbreak?
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