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On the same day the FDA granted full approval for the Pfizer / BioNTech COVID vaccine, local health officials reported an alarming number of local hospitalizations as well as a growing crisis in Reeves County.
In a Zoom press conference on Monday with health officials, Medical Center Hospital CEO Russell Tippin continued to urge health precautions and the need to be vaccinated as MCH has affected more COVID-related patients than ever with 106 over the weekend. Even at the height of the January outbreak, Tippin said, MCH did not reach that number.
“Not much upside down from our conversation today,” Tippin said. “In January we hit 103 or 102 and on the weekend we were at 106…; very worrying for us.
On Monday, the number fell to 96 with 37 in intensive care and 35 on ventilators. Twenty-nine are not vaccinated. Tippin said it was heartbreaking for patients who use ventilators to ask for a vaccine.
MCH patients are between 13 and 84 years old and seven have died since Friday. “Choose to have a better chance of survival,” he said of the vaccine.
Tippin also spoke about upcoming events that draw large crowds and said some could be super spreader events. “Young children scare me…. They will hit a handrail or a ball or the seat you are sitting on… ”
MCH is being pushed to the limit in terms of space and staff, as is the Odessa Regional Medical Center.
Dr Rohith Saravanan, regional chief medical officer at ORMC, said now was not the time to discuss big events such as the Permian Basin Fair as COVID is straining the healthcare system and those who work there. “We have passed the previous peak,” said Saravanan.
Saravanan also explained how hopelessness and pain cause family members and patients to seek treatments that are not medically approved. He again urged Odessans to trust the science and not ask for treatments that are not approved and which in some cases are medicines for animals and not humans.
“If they’re intended for animals, that means they’re generally not approved by the FDA or the CDC,” Tippin added.
The MCH’s head nurse, Christin Timmons, described a hospital’s staff as limited and understaffed. She said more nurses and respiratory therapists are expected from the state, but the staff is small.
So thin that Tippin said patient overflow tents aren’t an option because MCH doesn’t have the staff for the tents.
Tippin also discussed the growing crisis in Reeves County, where a federal camp for immigrant children is overwhelming the hospital. “Which in turn overwhelms us all,” he said, adding that COVID, chickenpox and young pregnant girls put a strain on the system. “They have a disaster on their hands,” he said.
This disaster will also affect Ector County as patients are displaced when space runs out. “The federal problem has now become a local problem,” Tippin said.
ORMC CEO Stacey Brown said ORMC had 26 COVID patients as of Monday, including eight in intensive care and seven on ventilators. “Well over 90 percent are unvaccinated.”
Brown said another alarming statistic is that about 45% of patients are 50 years of age or younger.
Brown and Timmons have both requested community support for hospital staff. “Write a note or have a child draw a picture,” Timmons suggested. “It means a lot to know that someone is thinking of them.”
Other things to note:
>> ORMC’s new visitor policy also came into effect on Monday.
>> Tippin said the COVID crisis was not only straining the hospital, but it had also taken over emergency care centers.
>> Saravanan said ORMC is running out of testing supplies and can no longer perform the tests in-house and will have to send them.
>> The Regeneron Infusion Center continues on the MCH campus at One Doctors Place, Suite 700 (500 N. Washington). Regeneron is made up of two drugs – casirivimab and imdevimab – that make up this particular monoclonal antibody treatment.
Monoclonal antibodies are proteins made in the laboratory that mimic the ability of the immune system to fight harmful pathogens, such as viruses. This therapy is for patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 and who are at risk of hospitalization. Not only can this help prevent hospitalization, it can also relieve symptoms of COVID-19 earlier.
A provider can refer patients to treatment with monoclonal antibodies. The provider will need to confirm that their patient is a candidate and would benefit from the therapy, then call (432) 640-2022 to make an appointment. There is also an email to send the appropriate documentation to [email protected]
The infusion center will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday. The therapy is free and the whole process takes around 90 minutes.
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