Low on beds, COVID-19 cases surging in Marion County
As the fourth wave of COVID-19 hits Marion County, a shortage of staffing and physical resources at Ohiohealth has led to limited availability of beds in the critical care unit.
Curt Gingrich, MD, president of Marion General Hospital, said the critical care unit is down to just one or two available beds as the hospital struggles to keep up with COVID-19 surges on top of daily inpatient care. Now, the hospital is limiting inpatient transports to the hospital from only Hardin and Morrow counties to create more capacity for patients, said Gingrich.
“This fourth surge is impacting all of our access points including the hospital, Emergency Department and Urgent Cares in Marion and Bucyrus as we've seen more than 600 COVID cases reported locally in just the last two weeks," Gingrich stated in a release.
Because of this surge in cases, Ohiohealth released updated policies regarding urgent care, the emergency department and testing availabilities. These changes come after Ohiohealth limited its inpatient visitor policy earlier in the month.
Marion County reported 641 new cases of COVID-19 within the last two weeks, according to Marion Public Health's COVID-19 tracker which was updated on Sept. 16. While vaccination rates rose to 43% in the most recent update, Gingrich said a majority of the COVID-19 cases at Ohiohealth are with younger adults between 25 and 50 who are not vaccinated.
Additionally with these new COVID-19 patients at Ohiohealth, Gingrich
said many of them were not following health guidelines such as wearing a mask in public and practicing social distancing.
Gingrich reiterated the vaccine in addition to masks and other guidelines are the best and safest way forward in the pandemic for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.
Because the hospital is experiencing high volumes of COVID-19 patients, Ohiohealth urges the community to only use urgent care and the emergency department for immediate needs or medical emergencies. According to a release from the department, these conditions include severe head injuries, stroke, persistent shortness of breath, major cuts with severe bleeding or major burns, breaks and sprains.
In terms of COVID-19 testing, low available resources at urgent care, the emergency department and testing clinics has led to Ohiohealth only testing those with symptoms.
"We are stretched to be able to even provide [testing] to those patients that are symptomatic right now and so we're really unable to provide that testing to those who are asymptomatic but needing it for an event they want to go to," Gingrich said. "We're really focusing on those who have symptoms so we can help slow the spread of the virus and make determinations if they need to come into the hospital."
Further, before someone visits Ohiohealth for a COVID-19 test, they will need a physician's order to do so. For those looking for a rapid test or in need of proof of a negative test, they are encouraged to visit the Ohio Department of Health website to find COVID-19 testing clinics nearby.