Hospitals manage crisis without needing extra space
A combination of factors have helped to prevent most Connecticut hospitals from reaching capacity or needing auxiliary space even at the height of the coronavirus crisis.
But hospital officials said they are prepared if the situation changes — particularly if a second wave hits in the fall.
Victor Morris, interim associate chief medical officer of Bridgeport Hospital, said a coalition of Fairfield County hospitals had made contingency plans in case of a surge. This included a 250-bed setup at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury that would have also been
available to the other hospitals. However, it hasn’t been needed.
“(All the hospitals) have surged, but we’re starting to come down now, and we’re in good shape,” Morris said.
Connecticut hospitalizations have started to slowly decline to below 1,900 after reaching a peak of 1,972 on April 22. As of Saturday, there were less than 700 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Fairfield County and about 600 in New Haven County.
Morris said the old Stamford Hospital facility is the only “extra” space he knows that has been opened. The space took overflow patients from Stamford and Bridgeport hospitals, Morris said.
But in general, hospitals have been able to handle the patient load using their main campuses. That includes St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, said Dianne Auger, the hospital’s regional vice president of strategy and regional development.
“For surge planning purposes, we increased our bed capacity to approximately 300 beds,” Auger said. “At this time, we are not at capacity, and are able to provide care for those patients who present to St. Vincent’s, whether they are here for COVID-19 or nonCOVID-19 care.”
Bridgeport Hospital spokesman John Cappiello echoed those thoughts, stating that “apart from the 32-bed field tent in front of the hospital, we have not yet needed to rely on any off-campus facilities. We have been able to expand capacity in our existing units.”
Both hospitals had briefly considered using Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport for overflow, but Morris said that never got off the ground.
Nuvance Health — a seven-hospital chain that includes facilities in Danbury, Norwalk and New Milford, among others — also has set up overflow “pop-up” locations that it hasn’t needed, including the WCSU facility.
Greenwich Hospital also has managed to have capacity at its main hospital, said the facility’s chief operating officer, Diane Kelly. The hospital increased availability by an additional 84 beds and, like many other hospitals, freed up auxiliary space off-campus — specifically, 14 beds at its ambulatory surgery center.
“At this point, we do not have plans to use the additional patient beds at our ambulatory surgery center,” Kelly said.
So why haven’t these extra facilities been needed yet? Hospital officials attribute it to a mix of proper planning and some good timing.
The COVID-19 pandemic began to hit the region just as the flu season was starting to decline, Morris said. If a second wave hits in the fall, the impact on area hospitals could be much different.
“This could easily hit again and if that happens at the same time as flu season, that could be troublesome,” Morris said.
Therefore, hospitals will likely have their capacity contingency plans at the ready if another wave hits, he said.
Yale New Haven Health CEO Marna Borgstrom said the state hospitals have been cooperating to accommodate all patients. Borgstrom said shifting staff and equipment from the hospitals that have not felt a great impact of the coronavirus, in New London and Westerly, R.I., has helped meet the demand in other parts of the state.
Meanwhile, others credited planning for helping control capacity. Nuvance spokeswoman Amy Forni said the chain’s hospitals began preparing for COVID-19 in early January, roughly two months before the illness picked up in earnest here.
“We believe these early preparedness efforts, including planning for possible surge scenarios, and in close coordination with local and state partners, is why we have continued to have capacity for patients,” she said.
At St. Vincent’s, Auger credited Connecticut residents for following public health protocols, such as practicing social distancing, meant to decrease the spread of the disease and limit the amount of infected patients at once.
Like Forni, Auger also credited good planning for keeping the hospitals from overflowing.
“We planned for a very high peak, given our proximity to New York City and intentionally increased our bed capacity,” Auger said. “It’s actually a good thing that we didn’t have to use it (yet). I would say that we believe we absolutely are not out of the woods though, by any means.”