Military medics supply backup to staff-strapped hospitals
Active-duty U.S. Air Force doctors, nurses and other medical providers are being sent to work in California hospitals to assist with a steep rise in coronavirus cases that has strained some health care systems across the state.
The 100 healthcare professionals began work Friday in five hospitals experiencing severe staff shortages after a request for aid by the state. An additional 60 providers will be deployed in the coming week, a military spokesman said.
The hospitals being served are Adventist Health Lodi Memorial, Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, Dameron Hospital in Stockton, Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage and Kaweah Delta Medical Center in Visalia, the spokesman said.
The move comes as some officials have described hospital staffing — not bed capacity — as the chief stumbling block when it comes to scaling up operations to accommodate more patients.
When the federal medical team arrived in San Joaquin County last week, local health officials were reporting 7,428 COVID-19 cases and 195 patients in hospitals.
The numbers spiked over the weekend, with 8,321 reported cases in the county as of Monday, including 526 in Lodi’s 95240 zip code and 198 in the 95242 zip code. The San Joaquin County Emergency Medical Services Agency said there were 236 patients being treated for the coronavirus, including 80 in intensive care units. In addition, capacity at all seven hospitals throughout the county was at 76%,
while capacity at ICUs across the county was at 132%.
County EMS said 42 patients at Adventist Health Lodi Memorial were being treated for COVID-19, 12 of whom were in ICU beds. A clinical team of 21 doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists is helping to provide additional resources, hospital spokeswoman Lauren Nelson said in an email.
“They will also offer reinforcements for our medical professionals who have been on the front lines serving patients throughout our COVID-19 response,” the hospital said in a statement.
The team will be there at least 30 days, though the arrangement has the potential to be extended, Nelson said.
The team arrived at Adventist Health Lodi Memorial just as the hospital began using a COVID-19 triage for the second time during the pandemic to screen patients.
Initially erected in late March, the tent was taken down on May 28, when San Joaquin County Public Health Services reported just 842 COVID-19 positive patients and 176 hospitalizations. By the time the tent reopened for the second time on July 1, county public health reported 3,856 patients with COVID-19. There were 133 people hospitalized in the county that day. Officials believe transmission of the virus began to increase in late May as more people left their homes to go back to work, visit newly reopened businesses and attend social gatherings.
California has seen hospitalizations increase steadily since mid-June, on the heels of a surge in new cases that began earlier in the month.
Nearly 6,900 patients with confirmed coronavirus infections were in hospitals statewide Saturday. That’s more than double the daily average in May, when about 3,000 people were hospitalized statewide with confirmed infections.
Dr. Alan E. Williamson, chief medical officer at Eisenhower Medical Center, said his team sent a request to the local public health department two weeks ago after exhausting the normal avenues for additional staff, such as hiring travel nurses, and failing to find enough personnel because of the nationwide demand for medical workers. His hospital received a team of 21 airmen including three doctors, 12 nurses, three respiratory therapists, two liaison officers and a physician assistant.
Williamson said his hospital is at about 80% capacity for beds but has no more available staff. With about 70 COVID-19 patients, down from 90 earlier last week, his facility had among the highest number in Riverside County. Col. Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for U.S. Army North, said the state of California, in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will determine which areas have the greatest need for the remaining personnel, with the possibility of more hospitals receiving the assistance.