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Springfield’s two main hospital systems, Mercy and CoxHealth, issued a stern warning to the public on Friday that they are full, due to a surge in COVID-19 patients, and this is also starting to impact non-patients. COVID.
At a press conference on Friday, health officials said hospitalizations had skyrocketed this week. Hospitals have started to mix dates for elective surgeries to maximize staffing, but the lack of beds and staff is also affecting emergency and acute care.
Leaders from both hospitals, as well as from Greene County and the city of Springfield, have again called on Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to issue a statewide mask warrant to help control the spread of the coronavirus, claiming the skyrocketing numbers lead to potentially dire scenarios.
Dr Shawn Usery is Chief Medical Officer of CoxHealth. He cited the example of a patient from Texas County in south-central Missouri who had a neurological emergency and almost died because all the major hospitals in the area were full.
“We cannot accept these patients locally. They end up going, as I think most have heard, to other states, ”Usery said.
To give an idea of how quickly hospitals fill up, CoxHealth had around 130 COVID patients on Monday. By Friday, that number had risen to over 160.
“We have been working to increase the capacity for more patients. Over the next few weeks, CoxSouth will have added 147 more beds. It’s the equivalent of a mid-sized hospital, ”Usery said.
Preparing for the extraordinary: rationing vital health care
Both CoxHealth and Mercy have started to prepare for the extraordinary measure of rationing acute or critical healthcare in case they need to. This is where doctors have to suspend treatment for some patients to treat others due to lack of resources.
Hospitals in Springfield have yet to ration acute or critical care, executives said at Friday’s press conference – but due to lack of staff and space, they are having these difficult ethical discussions since hospitalization figures are moving quickly in this direction.
A pandemic is exactly the type of situation that could result in a shortage of trained personnel, intensive care beds, or equipment like ventilators. When a hospital runs out of these vital resources, it becomes impossible to treat every patient. Hospitals are therefore forced to “ration” their healthcare resources, prioritizing certain patients over others based on a set of ethical criteria.
According to the National Institutes of Health, bioethicists traditionally recommend allocating resources primarily based on a patient’s chances of survival until discharge from hospital. This means that patients who belong to a demographic group less likely to recover and be referred – such as the elderly or those with functional disabilities – could potentially be denied access to potentially life-saving treatments while these resources are available. are intended for younger and healthier patients.
Dr Mayrol Juarez is an intensive care physician and vice president of hospital services at Mercy Springfield.
“For now, and fortunately, we still have the resources to take care of our community. But as this process progresses, we have a plan in place where we are going to have to have stimulating conversations, always taking care of the community and having our most ethical approach to it, ”Juarez said.
As an example, Juarez said that one thing medical teams prepare for is how to approach a patient’s family to express in detail the clinical condition and prognosis of their loved one, and determine their it is possible to “ subject a patient to difficult situations that make their life last.
At this point, they haven’t needed to have those conversations yet, Juarez said.
“But if we don’t act now, we’ll get there soon,” Juarez said.
Springfield COVID nurse: “Who’s going to take care of them?”
Wanda Brown is a registered nurse at Mercy Springfield who works in one of the hospital’s COVID units.
She describes herself as “one of many nurses who have held hands with patients who needlessly died from this ruthless virus”.
Mercy Springfield has already removed three of its units and its intensive care unit from caring for normally critically ill patients so that it can manage COVID patients, Brown said.
“We are running out of space. Not only for our COVID patients, but also for our other acute patients. So we ask again: where will these patients go and who will take care of them? Brown said.
Brown joined the chorus of local authorities and health leaders on Friday in pleading with the public to change their behavior by wearing masks, keeping their distance and staying home when possible.
“I know we have all heard statements that hospitals are not overwhelmed and our intensive care units are not full. But it’s wrong. And that is misleading. And I think it gives a false sense of security to our community. It does not represent what our reality really is. The reality is that our beds cannot be occupied without staff to care for these patients. And the available beds are full, ”she said.
Many of the COVID patients in Springfield hospitals reside in rural counties outside of the Springfield area.
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