WHEELING, W.Va. — Douglass Harrison, the president and CEO of Wheeling Hospital says with the resurgence of the coronavirus and its variants, along with the shortage of healthcare staff, a ‘perfect storm’ for a healthcare crisis is here.
Harrison spoke with MetroNews on Tuesday, hours after releasing a statement that in part detailed his worry about the uptick of cases and how it may get worse with school beginning in the area. “..Our ICUs are strained and our staffing shortages make this a true healthcare crisis,” his statement said.
He told MetroNews that if anyone in the public spends a day at the WVU Medicine facility in Ohio County, that they would quickly find out what a healthcare crisis looks like.
“Our staff is overworked, stressed with the number of people coming into the ER. We are having to turn people away because of the long waits. Looking at the number of people coming in that need ICU care, that need ventilators because of this,” Harrison said.
Harrison said hospital staff triage everyone that comes through the emergency room but because of current wait times, they cannot place patients. He said people are leaving and the statistic ‘ left without being seen’ is higher than it has been during the pandemic.
He added that part of the reason behind an emergency room backlog is the trouble to discharge patients with nursing homes and skilled facilities in the area being full. “You can’t discharge them,” Harrison said.
“In our ER, in a very good day for us would be 110 to 120 patients a day through,” Harrison said. “We are now seeing up to 150 patients a day through the emergency room. That is certainly takes it toll on the staff.”
In Tuesday’s report from the state Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR), there were a confirmed 491 state residents in a hospital due to COVID-19 — the highest total since over 500 on January 28, 2021. There are currently 169 of those patients being treated in intensive care.
In Ohio County, there are 313 active virus cases according to the DHHR. That total is the highest since February 10, 2021 with 317 active cases.
23,549 people 12 years of age and older are fully vaccinated in Ohio County, equaling 65%. Harrison said the ‘overwhelming majority’ of people he sees in the ICU at Wheeling Hospital are unvaccinated people and younger trending populations compared to this time last year.
Harrison pleaded for people to take the vaccine, saying those with the vaccine express far less severe symptoms if there is a breakthrough case. He said to ‘trust scientists over politicians’ and it’s an easy decision after full FDA approval of the Pfizer shot this week.
“Healthcare should never be a politicized statement one way or another. We are here to take care of people, to take care of the most vulnerable in our community. All we are asking is people to do their part and get the vaccine,” he told MetroNews.
On Monday, WVU Medicine and Mon Health announced their workers must be vaccinated by Oct. 31. It’s a move Harrison said he fully supports.
Harrison is also an advocate of mask-wearing and said it’s the least the public can do to slow the spread of the virus. On Monday night, the Ohio County School Board of Education voted to recommend but not require masks in schools this year. Classes begin in full capacity on Wednesday.
Harrison said he is worried about the spread among children and he has seen those younger than 12, the population not eligible to take a vaccine, come through the emergency room for care. WTOV-TV in Wheeling spoke with an ER doctor at the hospital about patients being younger.
Harrison added that his hospital is not prepared to take an influx of children in the coming weeks, and these children will most likely be transferred out of the area for care.
“At a minimum, kids should be wearing masks to help stop the spread. If the vaccine is not available for kids under the age of 12, I think we ought to look at alternative learning opportunities,” Harrison said.
“I am all for having kids back in school. We have seen the effects of virtual learning platform that happened last year. Some way, somehow we have to come up with a hybrid model for our children’s learning. I am not an advocate of shutting down schools and going all virtual.”