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Due to the high number of persistent admissions, Sanford is adding 32 more beds at Sanford Medical Center – but it will run out of empty space once that unit opens, likely in February, Dr Doug Griffin, vice president and director, said on Wednesday. Sanford Medical Center. 22.
“We’re looking to increase capacity,” Griffin said.
Sanford’s three medical campuses were caring for 544 inpatients as of Wednesday.
“This is an extremely high number for us,” Griffin said. “Basically we have all the beds full,” with some patients in overflow areas, like the emergency department.
Clinic volumes are also high. For patients, high volumes mean longer wait times in emergency room or emergency care, or longer wait times for an appointment.
Elective surgery cases – those that don’t need to be done immediately – have been reduced by 30%, resulting in longer wait times for surgery, often an extra week or two or sometimes longer, a Griffin said.
Staffing remains a key limitation of hospital capacity, as caregivers continue to work extra shifts and longer hours to maintain 24-hour care as recruitment efforts continue with incentives for them. overtime, he said.
“Staffing remains critical,” Griffin said, adding that some itinerant nurses will increase staffing starting in October. “We hope that number will continue to increase. Doctors and other caregivers are also being transferred from clinical or administrative roles to hospital services, he said.
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Sanford had 35 patients with active COVID-19 on Wednesday, a number that has remained stable so far during the delta surge. But 25 other patients, many in intensive care, no longer need isolation due to their coronavirus infections, Griffin said.
This means that the total burden of COVID-19 is 60 patients, or 11% of admitted patients. COVID-19 patients whose illness is severe enough to require hospitalization have long hospital stays and require a higher level of staff, he said.
Of the 35 active COVID-19 patients, 10 are in intensive care, including eight on ventilators.
It is not known how many patients seeking hospital care have delayed care for illnesses or conditions that emerged earlier in the pandemic, Griffin said, but it is likely worsening demand for beds.
Broadway Medical Center in Sanford, where it cares for most COVID-19 patients, now has two intensive care units, one for patients with active COVID-19 and one on a separate floor for others patients.
Sanford planners are studying the possibility of expanding hospital capacity at Fargo, but that would require significant capital investment for new construction, Griffin said. Sanford does not yet have a timeline for making the decision, he said.
The coronavirus isn’t the only respiratory virus sending people to hospital. Respiratory syncytial virus has been circulating since this summer and the flu season will intensify, he said.
Last year, due to the widespread use of masks, influenza cases were at very low levels, which helped keep hospital beds available. This is unlikely to be the case now that mask-wearing and social distancing are much less common, Griffin said.
Many other hospitals are facing similar pressures. Hospitals within 400 to 600 miles of Fargo are also full, Griffin said. Sanford is answering calls from hospitals in western North Dakota and all of Minnesota as well as Wisconsin to find out if they can transfer patients.
Vaccination remains the best way to avoid becoming infected with the coronavirus, especially with a case severe enough to require hospital care, Griffin said, renewing calls for people to get vaccinated.
As of Wednesday, the Sanford system, which includes 22 hospitals, had 159 hospitalized patients with COVID-19, 143 unvaccinated and 16 vaccinated. Forty-five COVID-19 patients were in intensive care, 43 unvaccinated and 34 were on ventilators, 33 unvaccinated.
Hospital bed capacity is also limited at Essentia Health in Fargo. “We are at full capacity almost every day, like other hospitals in the area,” said spokesperson Louis St. George.
Essentia was treating 20 patients with COVID-19 on Wednesday, including seven in intensive care, he said.
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