How medical facilities are faring
Hospitalizations, COVID-19 cases on the rise
Hospitalizations and COVID-19 case counts are on the rise at the time when people are most likely to get together for social gatherings around the holidays.
The issue isn’t exclusive to the Yuba-sutter area, though local officials have raised concerns about what a dramatic spike might mean for the area’s medical facilities and their resources.
Richard Rawson, president of Adventist Health and Rideout, said hospital staff members are prepared for a surge, as well as the challenge that comes along with flu season. They have the resources they need and are better prepared than when the first coronavirus wave hit, Rawson said, but the frustrating part is that the recent uptick in cases was preventable.
“We’ve seen a significant increase in hospitalizations in just the last week. Seeing more patients coming into the hospital is a concern because it can really stress our capacity,” Rawson said. “So we are doing what we can to encourage people to continue to not get weary and stay vigilant, and continue to wear masks and social distance.”
Burnout among healthcare workers has been seen in medical facilities across the country. Rawson said he’s been
impressed by the resiliency his staff has shown in handling the pandemic throughout the greater part of 2020.
Bi-county Health Officer Dr. Phuong Luu said other healthcare facilities around the community are also stressed, but everyone is pushing ahead and staying the course in trying to keep Yuba-sutter residents safe. She encouraged community members to do their part in helping healthcare providers feel supported.
“These healthcare providers are your loved ones, your friends, your neighbors. Please don’t make their job harder than it needs to be — avoid that social gathering, wear that mask, physically distance — so that you don’t push our healthcare system to the breaking point,” she said.
The hospital has a total of 221 acute care beds that can be occupied in the event of a massive outbreak. There were 22 people hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Thursday -- just a week before there were only three COVID patients. The real concern isn’t about bed space as much as it is about the hospital’s ability to staff beds. Hospitals throughout the region are working together to add collective capacity for when certain communities are hit harder than others.
“This time of year we can hit capacity without COVID, so with this virus, if we were to see a significant rise in hospitalizations, that could be a huge challenge, but that’s why we’ve done a lot of preparation and planning on how to deal with and manage that,” Rawson said.
To mitigate the chance of transmission at the hospital following the most recent spike in cases, the facility plans to limit visitors allowed inside. Visitation will only be allowed for OB patients and those who are at the end of life, and those instances only allow one visitor on a 24-hour basis who has passed all COVID-19 screening criteria. The guidelines apply to the Cancer Center, emergency room and the hospital’s senior living facilities -- The Fountains, The Courtyards and The Gardens.
Vaccine Availability
Hospital staff are being prepared for when a vaccine becomes available. Planning is necessary in order to determine how the supplies will be distributed around the community in the early stages.
Rawson said the hospital is in good shape currently with its supply chain of personal protective equipment, and they are continuing to work on getting access to some of the available therapeutics to help treat COVID patients.
The communities around the country that are experiencing a crisis due to COVID are because outbreaks have overwhelmed their local resources, Rawson said, so community members can help by limiting the spread of the virus.
“Stay vigilant and careful. I know people are tired of it, but wishing it wasn’t there doesn’t make it go away,” he said.
Mortality rate
Hospitalizations lag behind case count increases by about 2-3 weeks, and deaths usually follow a couple weeks after that, Luu said.
As of Thursday afternoon, 23 local residents had died due to COVID-19. The local mortality rate (0.6 percent) fares better than the state’s average of approximately 1.8 percent.
Local residents that have died due to COVID-19 were between the ages of 30-90. Some of the most common underlying conditions were diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. One person was in their mid
30s and had no underlying health conditions, and they died just a week after receiving a positive test result.
Luu said the area’s lower mortality rate can be attributed to public health staff for their efforts in contact investigation and tracing and healthcare providers at the hospital who are in charge of clinical treatment decisions.
“It troubles me that our relatively lower mortality rate compared to the state would be used as the basis for minimizing the deadly nature of COVID-19,” Luu said, commenting on how some people downplay the seriousness of the pandemic. “The virus is real, and if not for the day in and day out efforts of our public health staff and our healthcare providers, we would see more tragic consequences.
A serious crisis is just one outbreak away at a skilled nursing facility or congregate living facility.
Luu said skilled nursing facilities in the area have done a valiant job of maintaining the health and safety of their residents and staff. That being said, the recent increase in case counts has also been noted at these facilities, she said, which is always worrisome.
Luu said it’s important people don’t just focus on deaths when considering the severity of the threat, as this is a once-in-a-century pandemic and requires people to appreciate the gravity of the situation.
“A lot of COVID-19 positive cases have never fully recovered,” she said. “We have a temporary name for these individuals, ‘COVID long haulers,’ with many cases experiencing weeks to months of chronic fatigue, headache, shortness of breath, and dizziness since their infection. In terms of health, we should not focus on just mortality, but the morbidity of the disease, and we are seeing troubling signs that the consequence of COVID-19 infection is long-lasting for many.”