Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
Montco: Hospitals strained by ‘dramatic rise’ in cases
County records 3,579 COVID-19 cases reported since Jan. 15
NORRISTOWN » Emergency rooms across Montgomery County are filling up as the area continues to deal with another surge in the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have encountered a dramatic rise in the number of emergency department visits recently,” said Dr. Kisha Martin, chairwoman of emergency medicine for Redeemer Health.
Health officials met virtually on Wednesday morning in a press conference concerning the latest uptick in the ongoing public health crisis.
There are 516 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 at Montgomery County medical facilities as of Wednesday afternoon, with 48 patients on ventilators, according to Montgomery County’s COVID-19 Data HUB.
“Our numbers have gone up significantly just like everybody else. We’ve hit record numbers with this last surge,” said Dr. Jonathan Stallkamp, interim chief medical officer and regional vice president of medical affairs at Main Line Health, Bryn Mawr Hospital and Lankenau Medical Center.
Arkoosh stressed that county leaders are in continual contact with local hospitals to offer needed assistance.
“Our hospitals are very full, and anyone who is hospitalized — whether their admitting diagnosis was COVID-19, or they were found to have it after being tested upon arrival — that creates a specific burden for our health care workers in the hospital,” Arkoosh told reporters. “And so the sum total of the patients, and the sum total of those that have COVID really adds to the challenges that our hospital workers are facing.”
These difficulties can have an impact on hospital morale.
“It’s difficult to come to work every day when the volume of patients that present to your emergency department is day after day 40, 50 percent more than you are typically accustomed to dealing with,” Martin said.
Montgomery County has recorded 5,129 COVID-19 cases since Jan. 15, according to the county’s online resources database. There were 3,579 cases reported from Jan. 15 to Jan, 17, of which 71 came from long term care facilities and 50 from inmates at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. Six deaths were also reported during that time frame.
Most recently, 1,550 cases were counted from Tuesday to Wednesday, according to the county’s online database. There were 51 cases from long term care, and two others from the county correctional facilities. No deaths were reported during this time frame.
There have been 110,713 total cases and 1,511 deaths disclosed since virus was first detected locally on March 7, 2020, according to the county’s online COVID-19 database.
“Montgomery County continues to experience an unprecedented number of cases of COVID-19, most likely due to the rapid spread of the omicron variant,” Arkoosh said.
Additionally, Montgomery County is experiencing a 28.84 percent positivity rate and incidence rate of 898.8 cases per 100,000 residents, according to Arkoosh, who stressed these
figures derived only from PCR test results.
“(We’re) cautiously optimistic that we have seen the peak, and that we are starting to trend downward,” she said. “That’s certainly what our data suggests, but I need to just point out and remind everyone that we are still seeing over 1,000 cases a day on average, which is more than we have seen at any point during this pandemic. So while I am really pleased to see the trend is starting downward, the total volume of cases is substantial, and because the volume of cases is so high, there will be ongoing impacts for our hospitals.”
In acknowledging the influx in patients, some have observed people coming to emergency rooms to get tested for COVID-19.
“It’s important that emergency departments continue to be utilized for emergencies and not as a testing site,” Martin said. “We have patients who are coming with absolutely no symptoms, with very mild symptoms, employers who are sending patients to the emergency department for testing, and when this happens, it delays care for patients who have true emergencies. It diverts life saving resources away from the hospital and away from those patients who really need it.”
Participating clinicians in Wednesday’s press conference stressed that people should instead go through other avenues including a primary care physician or other testing locations such as pharmacies or larger county-run clinics.
County officials have increased access to appointments at the five previously established testing clinics in Ardmore, Green Lane, Norristown, Pottstown, and Willow Grove.
Sites are open from 9 a.m. to noon and 1-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Arkoosh emphasized that eligible participants “can make appointments up to four days in advance.” For more information, visit montcopa.org/covid-19testing or call 610-970-2937.
Stallkamp offered a point of guidance surrounding what to do with at-home test results.
“If you are taking an at-home COVID test and you turn out to be positive there’s no need to go and get a confirmatory PCR testing for that. You’re fine with that. I would treat that as a positive,” he said, recommending people isolate for the recommended amount of time set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“If you’re still having symptoms, and that test is negative, I wouldn’t 100 percent count on the test … and that’s a good indication you need to talk to your doctor about going out and getting a confirmatory PCR to make sure (you) are negative,” he said.
Health officials underscored those experiencing a medical emergency or other symptoms should go to a hospital.
“If you are ill, and you have symptoms that can’t be handled at home, don’t hesitate to come to the hospital. We will absolutely see you and take care of you. Our goal is to treat our patients in our community without hesitation,” said Dr. Robert Czincila, chief of the department of emergency medicine for Einstein Medical Center Montgomery — Jefferson Health.
For “other illnesses outside of COVID,” Czincila stressed seeking medical attention, adding those could include “chest pain,” “shortness of breath” and “symptoms of a stroke.”
“Don’t hesitate, don’t delay coming to the hospital because we need to take care of you in a very timely fashion in order to provide the best care,” he said.
Medical professionals also emphasized how getting vaccinated can help hospitals.
“It is so clear that our frontline health care workers need our support now more than ever, and you can support them by getting vaccinated if you’re not vaccinated. It’s time,” Arkoosh said. “It is the very least that we can all do to honor our frontline workers, protect our hospitals and keep our family and friends safe.”
In Montgomery County, 514,801 residents are fully inoculated, while 136,224 others have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard. Another
220,979 people have “received an additional dose since Aug. 13, 2021.”
To learn more about county-run COVID-19 vaccine clinics in King of Prussia, Norristown, Pottstown, and Willow Grove, visit montcopa.org/covid-19vaccine.
Dr. Neil Gulati, Pottstown Hospital’s medical director for the emergency department added that getting boosted, wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, and being kind is paramount.
“We’re very busy in these emergency departments, and with volume up, there might be waiting that will have to be done,” Gulati said. “So just be patient. A thank you goes a long way.”
Additionally, donating blood would be a big help to many medical facilities, according to Stallkamp.
“A lot of times with the way health care has been, and people are afraid to come to the hospitals, or go to a blood donation, our hospitals are also seeing a definite decrease in the amount of donors out there, and our blood supplies are at critical levels,” he said. “So please by all means get out there and donate.”
And as the two-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic approaches, medical professionals and hospital workers continue to fight that battle each and every day.
“The resilience of our staff, our nurses, our housekeepers, those people that help support the emergency department, and the inpatient hospital beds has been outstanding, and if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do every day,” Czincila said.
“While we certainly have days where we struggle, and it can be hard, it can be frustrating, we’re not giving up and we’re gonna get through this together,” Czincila said.