CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia hospitals and health care facilities will continue to be challenged as coronavirus numbers continue to increase.
Hospitals typically handle fewer patients around the holidays followed by a surge of care and procedures in the new year. Jim Kaufman, the president and CEO of the West Virginia Hospital Association, said with the coronavirus, hospitals are already at capacity.
“You can imagine the pressure that we are going to be under in January as routine care still needs to be provided, not just COVID care that we have to take care of,” he said on Friday’s “MetroNews Talkline.”
“That’s what’s wearing on the staff, wearing on the resources, wearing on the hospitals that provide that care. They’re not getting any downtime that you usually get around the holidays.”
Kaufman noted facilities are facing staff shortages and reduced resources, adding stress on health care facilities. He said there is still a vacancy with in-patient beds and limited space with intensive care treatment, but the availability is not guaranteed in the coming months.
“What you’re going to see is individual hospitals be completely filled up or they may talk about transferring patients to another facility, or deferring procedures or managing their patient population to ensure they can provide access,” he said.
“Getting the hospitals working collectively together has been really key to our ability to really care for patients because, yes, they may be at 100%, but they may say can we transfer this patient to this other facility or can we defer this to ensure we have the capacity.”
Health care workers were among the first West Virginians to receive doses of the coronavirus vaccine. According to Kaufman, around 60% of staff have received doses when offered.
“I think it’s just individual choice sometimes,” he said of workers refusing the vaccine. “They may see certain things or they may have an underlying health condition themselves that makes them hesitant.”
The United States surpassed 20 million recorded coronavirus cases on Friday. Health care officials recorded more deaths in December than any other month of the pandemic.