MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — “Still very manageable” was how a nurse manager for the primary COVID-19 unit at WVU Medicine’s Ruby Memorial Hospital described the recent increase in patients with the coronavirus at the facility.
“We’re, this whole time, staying, one, two, three steps ahead of the game,” said Sara Belch, nurse manager for Ruby’s 8 South East, during an appearance on Monday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
“We definitely have surge plans in place and policies that have been written so that, if we were to surge, we definitely have a plan to follow so that we can do that successfully.”
On Monday morning, the number of hospitalizations across West Virginia attributed to COVID-19 was at a pandemic high — 215 — in information from the state Department of Health and Human Resources.
Of those patients in hospitals statewide, 71 were said to be in intensive care.
Confirmed ventilator cases totaled 23.
The unit Belch oversees is a step-down unit.
“We do have some patients that remain here until they get discharged and then we have others that do go to the ICU for a little higher level of care and then we see them come right back to our unit prior to being discharged,” Belch said.
She said the discharges were especially rewarding.
“It just gives you chills to know that you are part of that success story,” Belch said.
Sara Belch, Nurse Manager of 8 Southeast at Ruby Memorial, joins @HoppyKercheval to discuss how her and her team are holding up during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/OAECIy1OK0
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) October 26, 2020