COVID Crush: Hospitals and Healthcare Workers Overwhelmed

[NationalTitles18]

This is what happens when hospital administrators make these decision rather than the people who actually provide the healthcare. The entire US medical industry is a disaster.

I cannot disagree with that at all.

 

[92tide]

The CEO's sometimes behave as if loyalty and respect are one way streets. I'll also note that these same CEO's are more than willing to pay travel nurses to come in and then turn around and give lowball salaries permanent employees. It's as if they don't understand market forces.

but they are six sigma black belts with top 5 mba credentials, and leadership training.

 

[NationalTitles18]

but they are six sigma black belts with top 5 mba credentials, and leadership training.

Yep, and employees do NOT want monetary reward at all (to hear them tell it). Of course, they misuse those studies to justify their wage policies while missing the point that employees want to be valued beyond just pay, not that they don't want to be paid well. Too often these brilliant souls double down by showing employees they are not valued in terms of pay or otherwise.

 

[NationalTitles18]

Covid Overload: U.S. Hospitals Are Running Out of Beds for Patients (Published 2020)

As the coronavirus pandemic surges across the country, hospitals are facing a crisis-level shortage of beds and staff to provide adequate care for patients.

www.nytimes.com

 

[NationalTitles18]

DCH Ties High For New Virus Inpatients Amid Holiday Uncertainty

DCH Health System's hospitals in Northport and Tuscaloosa were treating 79 COVID-19 inpatients on Sunday.

patch.com

 

[NationalTitles18]

November 30, 2020 - Blowing Through the Ceiling

Blowing Through the Ceiling

frankmcphillips.substack.com

 

[NationalTitles18]

Officials worry about hospital capacity as US hits record number of Covid-19 patients hospitalized

As the crush of incoming Covid-19 patients continues to strain hospitals across the US, officials across several states are worried their hospitals will be overwhelmed as the holiday season approaches.

www.cnn.com

 

[NationalTitles18]

Alabama expert warns of 'tidal wave' of COVID cases

Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo at UAB said a sharp increase in cases could be the beginning of a "tidal wave" poised to crash into Alabama in the next two to three weeks. "Are we looking at the kind of situation that New York City experienced in March? Again, it depends. A lot depends on what happened over...

www.al.com

 

[NationalTitles18]

Hospitals in the Midwest Strapped for Beds, Staff

With the number of COVID-19 inpatients tripling in the past 2 weeks alone, staff at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics say they feel like they've been called to war.

www.medscape.com

"It's like being called to go to war," said Theresa Brennan, MD, chief medical officer at the 845-bed UI Hospitals and Clinics. "Just like putting yourself out on the front lines of war, you wonder if you're going to continue to be safe," she said.

"As with war, sometimes you don't know the enemy," she explained."COVID-19 is the same; this is a nasty virus. We've learned a lot about it and we're fighting a good battle, but it's still a cruel virus and, for sure, the enemy."

In April, when Medscape Medical News first checked in with Brennan, her "incident command team" was painstakingly formulating initial surge plans. They envisioned a worst-case scenario — believed to be highly unlikely — in which the center would be full, overflow units would be needed, and 80% of patients would be COVID-positive.

The real surge took another 7 months to materialize. And the reality has been every bit as bad as their worst fears.

"We're battling fatigue and people are just tired," said Marta Van Beek, MD, a longtime Mohs surgeon who is now chief of staff there.

Concerns of Collapse
Back in April, Iowa had about 3650 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 80 deaths. In early May, the state hit a peak of about 400 people hospitalized for COVID-19.


But those numbers seem almost tame in light of the pandemic's current stomp through Iowa. On November 24, more than 1300 patients were hospitalized in the state, and 275 of those were in the ICU.


The past month alone has seen record highs across the board, with nearly 86,000 new cases, 532 deaths, and a current positive testing rate of 51%.


Gov. Kim Reynolds, who previously called mask mandates "feel-good" actions, reversed course on November 16 by issuing a statewide mask mandate for indoor public spaces, with certain exceptions. If residents don't comply, she said at a news conference, "our healthcare system will fail."


Brennan agrees that is a possibility.


"There's great concern that the healthcare system is stressed and if we don't do things differently, there could be a collapse," she told Medscape Medical News. "The aim is to make sure people understand the dire situation we're in if we don't change the transmission rate, if we continue to have hospitals exceed our capabilities to care for patients in our present structures, and if we surge into patients using beds and care models that are not what we do on a day-to-day basis."

 

[NationalTitles18]

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=195579348735290&id=108601420766417

 

[NationalTitles18]

Home

ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, Alabama offers news, sports, and weather reporting for the surrounding communities including Tuscaloosa, Anniston, Cullman, Gadsden, Talladega, Sylacauga, Carbon Hill, Jasper, Hoover, Bessemer, Vestavia Hills, Alabaster, Trussville and Homewood.

abc3340.com

 

[NationalTitles18]

He works in a Covid-19 unit in a parking garage. Trump called it fake - CNN Video

As the coronavirus pandemic grows more dire across the US, Dr. Jacob Keeperman treats patients in a Covid-19 unit run out of a parking garage in Nevada. After Keeperman tweeted a photo of the unit, President Donald Trump called it "fake" and echoed his false claims about the Nevada election...

www.cnn.com

 

[CharminTide]

Here’s our inpatient COVID census since March.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Here’s our inpatient COVID census since March.

The CEO of the Huntsville Hospital chain here yesterday said that they were about to delay all elective surgery again, as they convert more and more of the hospital over to Covid...

 

[CharminTide]

The CEO of the Huntsville Hospital chain here yesterday said that they were about to delay all elective surgery again, as they convert more and more of the hospital over to Covid...

Same here. We have a series of operational triggers defined by the number of COVID patients in the hospital. The last trigger, which I hope we never reach, stipulates that no one gets surgery unless they're actively dying. All appendicitis treated medically until your appendix bursts. All cancer resections delayed... at a cancer hospital.

Friendly PSA to please consider your holiday plans.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Same here. We have a series of operational triggers defined by the number of COVID patients in the hospital. The last trigger, which I hope we never reach, stipulates that no one gets surgery unless they're actively dying. All appendicitis treated medically until your appendix bursts. All cancer resections delayed... at a cancer hospital.

Friendly PSA to please consider your holiday plans.

The CEO made the point also that "elective" meant something different, if it were your surgery. For example, my wife's two back surgeries, one for a severely ruptured disk, the second after a fall, compressing the disk above the surgical site, would be "elective," although she basically couldn't get out of bed...

 

[CharminTide]

The CEO made the point also that "elective" meant something different, if it were your surgery. For example, my wife's two back surgeries, one for a severely ruptured disk, the second after a fall, compressing the disk above the surgical site, would be "elective," although she basically couldn't get out of bed...

Yup. A lot of people conflate elective with "cosmetic." Elective just means a surgery that can be scheduled in advance (e.g. not an immediate emergency). And we've already cancelled all elective surgeries that will require an overnight stay, because we can't spare any beds outside the recovery unit.

 

[B1GTide]

Yup. A lot of people conflate elective with "cosmetic." Elective just means a surgery that can be scheduled in advance (e.g. not an immediate emergency). And we've already cancelled all elective surgeries that will require an overnight stay, because we can't spare any beds outside the recovery unit.

The problem with delaying these and other procedures - they eventually lead to an increased death rate. What is now preventative, if ignored, can kill.

I have friends with major medical conditions who have not been to the doctor once since this started because they are trying to avoid infection. That lack of care has got to be killing people across the country.

 

[NationalTitles18]

@selmaborntidefan

‘Nobody Sees Us’: Testing-Lab Workers Strain Under Demand (Published 2020)

Laboratory technologists have been working nonstop to help the nation diagnose an ever-growing number of coronavirus cases.

www.nytimes.com

 

[jthomas666]

All appendicitis treated medically until your appendix bursts.

Wow, that one's rough--particularly given the complications from a burst appendix.