MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Hospitals are suffering under the latest surge, and it’s magnified because healthcare systems have not yet rebounded from the recent Delta surge.
WVU Medicine President and CEO Albert Wright said staffing issues are also complicating efforts to care for patients.
Photo/WVU Medicine
“We’ve been through a number of these surges now and it’s a lot like a boxer,” Wright said on MetroNews “Talkline.” “Every time you take a few blows to the body it gets harder to come back as the rounds go on in the fight.”
Heading into the weekend, WVU Medicine reported 181 people hospitalized across the system and an estimated 28 people waiting for bed space. On average, patients experience a 15 to 25-day hospital stay if they survive the infection. According to Wright, ICU staff are having to decide what patients get advanced care based on their chances of survivability.
“I’ve been at WVU Medicine for 7 1/2 years and until this surge we’ve never had to not allow an ICU patient to be able to come to Ruby Memorial right away,” Wright said.
At 4,700, hospitalizations in Michigan have hit a pandemic high and in Ohio hospitalizations run under capacity, but total numbers keep the pressure on staff. many hospitals are offering bonuses to keep nurses and are willing to pay a premium for traveling nurses.
“I don’t think West Virginia is as bad as what we’re seeing in Michigan, parts of Ohio and parts of Pennsylvania,” Wright said. “But, a lot of the nurses from here are going to travel and get big rates from those places, so we have a staffing issue.”
At WVU Medicine, non-clinical staff with qualifications are being moved to help meet need during the most recent surge and most other non-coronavirus procedures are limited or suspended.
In previous surge conditions numbers dropped to a level that allowed some other procedures to resume after a pause. However, this surge is right on the heels of the Delta infection numbers keeping hospitalizations high.
“We’re still slow on them- those patients now since our COVID numbers aren’t coming down and our staffing is a challenge we’re trying to get those folks back in,”Wright said. “There’s such a demand for inpatient care right now.”
Of the 181 hospitalized across the WVU system 75 percent have been unvaccinated. Wright said the breakdown of the numbers really shows the importance of getting the shot and the booster for those six months out from the initial vaccination.
“If for some reason you choose not to be vaccinated or not get the booster please keep yourself safe,” Wright said. “Because the hospital system is having a hard time holding up under the weight of all the demand right now.”