The University of Kansas Health System
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The University of Kansas Health System reports a staggering jump in the numbers of COVID patients over the weekend. 63 people with the active virus are being treated, up from 45 on Friday, with one death on Friday. 21 of those patients are in the ICU, up from 17 Friday. 16 patients are on ventilators and 22 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID but are out of the acute infection phase, for a total of 85 patients. HaysMed has nine total patients, down from ten Friday.
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On today’s Morning Medical Update, the leaders of the Kansas and Missouri Hospital Associations explained how hospitals are handling the surge in COVID patients, the staffing issues popping up and the concern as cases continue to climb.
Steve Stites, MD, is chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System and had this blunt warning: “I think we’re in trouble. I said once before last fall that we were on fire and I think we’re on fire again.” He blames the current problem on two things — not enough people are vaccinated, and people are not following the rules of infection prevention and control, mainly by wearing a mask. That plus the fact the Delta variant is what he calls “a different enemy.” It’s two to five times more transmissible than the original virus and it only takes a couple minutes, rather than 10 or 12, to spread. With 95 percent of hospitalized COVID patients not vaccinated, it’s become a huge problem for hospitals around the Midwest.
Because of all-time high patient numbers, none are able to accept transfers. The health system alone has had transfer requests from Mississippi, Georgia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma but has no room. One patient from Salina, KS ended up in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The number of COVID patients needing hospitalization is growing and filling up beds needed by people with other illnesses such heart attacks and strokes and unfortunately, some patients have died while waiting for a bed. The average age of patients now is 52 compared to 68 at the height of the surge last winter. Stites says, “We’re in a tough stew. We’re either going to have to make a decision to try to take those rules a little more seriously and get folks vaccinated, or we’re going to pay the consequences. And I’m afraid we’re already paying the consequences as the care for heart attacks and strokes is delayed.” He explained why the hospital is full with 85 COVID patients when the last time it was declared full with 120. The biggest reason is the current transfer acceptance rate, which used to be about 65 percent, is now at about ten percent because so many other non-COVID patients are hospitalized now. He says. “If we got to 80 or 85 percent vaccination, our patient numbers would drop dramatically, and we’d have five or ten patients in the hospital. Then we could take care of everybody else in the community, which we can’t right now.” He says with the original variant, you could expect some pretty good protection after your first dose, but not so with the Delta variant. It takes both doses and about six weeks to get the most protection. He urges everyone to get vaccinated and put on a mask.
Herb Kuhn is president & CEO of the Missouri Hospital Association. He says, “This thing comes on like a freight train. Where before it took us five to six months to get to these high levels we saw last winter, now it’s taken five to six weeks. This thing moves quickly through a community and it’s very, very dangerous.” The other difference he sees is the spread in largely younger people. Last winter ICU’s had mostly elderly patients, but now hospitals are seeing 18 to 30- year-olds. A typical ICU patient might be there for two or three days, while it’s normal for a COVID patient to be there for two or three weeks. It’s taking a huge toll on hospital staff, who are now having to watch young people, rather than the elderly, pass away from this variant. He calls that a game changer, which is adding to additional emotional stress and burnout, and causing staff challenges for the entire healthcare system. He believes it helped when the governor recently authorized 30 EMS strike teams, which helps transfer patients around the state and region. He says the problem is now we have the means to combat the virus and until we all use those means we’ll continue to have these big challenges.
Chad Austin, President of the Kansas Hospital Association, says the challenge last year was getting enough supplies and testing capacity. Now he says the biggest challenge is getting the public to see the gravity of the situation and get vaccinated and wear masks. He noted the virus is starting to spread west across Kansas and his association is working with those smaller communities to prepare for and hopefully prevent the surges being seen in the larger metro areas. He believes a statewide mask mandate will be very difficult in Kansas but believes getting full authorization of the vaccines from the FDA will be a game changer as it will allow more employers to require vaccination of their employees. He says the good news is the state has plenty of supplies and medicine for the current surge, but staffing continues to be a big challenge with many taking a break or leaving the profession altogether.
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at The University of Kansas Health System, says despite a lot people clamoring for a booster, the official CDC guidance is only those who are immunocompromised need one right now. He thinks we’re fighting with one or even two hands tied behind our backs when we can’t get people to follow the simple measures like vaccination and masking. He says the treatments for COVID have not changed but adds it’s unfortunate that most of the people now coming for that treatment are those who steadfastly refused the vaccine. They all say they now wish they had taken the vaccine.