The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Overflowing
Fisher-Titus sometimes sending patients elsewhere for care amid COVID surge
Huron County’s leading hospital is being forced to “periodically” send patients to other facilities due to the strain on its facility.
“Fisher-Titus (Medical Center) implements a non critical bypass in our emergency department when there is a high number of patients in the emergency department holding for bed placement as well as a high inpatient census related to both COVID (coronavirus) and non COVID admissions,” according to Fisher Titus President and CEO Brent Burkey in a news release. “This means that we have exceeded current capacity and those patients who are not critically ill would be diverted to other facilities who may have bed availability.”
Sometimes patients may need to be transferred from Fisher-Titus, 272 Benedict Ave. in Norwalk, to another facility where there is bed availability, Burkey said.
“Our goal is to keep people local for their care, but unfortunately with the high census we’ve been experiencing lately, that is not always possible,” he said.
When the hospital is forced to go on “non critical bypass,” immediate emergency care still is available, Burkey said.
“Yes, if someone comes in with a life-threatening or critical condition, we will still provide care for those individuals,” he said. “We will not turn anyone away who needs care for a critical incident.”
“We will periodically go on non critical bypass; diversion is more of when you cannot care for patients at all due to a variety of reasons including medical equipment failure,” said Alexandria Cruey, director of marketing and communications at Fisher-Titus.
“I think it’s important for that clarification because we don’t want people to think we can’t care for anyone.”
Jim Kravec, chief clinical officer for Mercy Health’s
Lorain and Youngstown facilities, said diversion is truly a last resort when the emergency room has so many patients between its walls.
When that happens, Mercy Health coordinates with ambulance services and informs their staff to take patients elsewhere, Kravec said.
“Mercy Health Lorain has very infrequently gone on diversion … when that happens, it’s very, very rare and it’s truly only happened with the surge of COVID,” he said.
Jordan Sternberg, manager of marketing at Firelands Health in Sandusky, also said diverting patients is a rare occurrence.
For those who do not need immediate care, Fisher-Titus suggests residents go to Convenient Care, have a virtual visit with a provider or contact their primary care provider.
“We work with local EMS agencies to coordinate when our emergency department is on non critical bypass,” Burkey said. “Additionally, local hospitals communicate regularly with one another as these situations arise in order to accommodate our patients’ needs.”
“Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been times we have had to go on bypass,” Cruey said.
“Given the current record-breaking daily numbers of new COVID cases that result in acute care needs for some patients, along with others who have non COVID related illnesses, we unfortunately are experiencing significant strain on the entire health care system in Ohio.”
National Guard
On Jan. 7, 11 members of the Ohio National Guard arrived at Fisher-Titus to assist with the increased demand of testing for COVID-19.
The National Guard will be onsite for two weeks.
At the conclusion of the two-week period, Fisher-Titus will evaluate if the additional testing resources are needed as well as if there is a need for additional resources in other areas of the facility.