Driven by declining numbers of staff, hospital leaders across the state warned Thursday they are at or near capacity, amid a surge in cases that made Louisiana the 12th state. and smaller in confirming 100,000 infections.
The wave of infections that continued to rise this week comes as Governor John Bel Edwards signs an order to keep the state on a modified version of his Phase 2 reopening plan, one that closes the bars and requires masks when people are in public, for two more weeks
The governor said Thursday that he “does not want to go back to Phase 1,” which would mean reducing capacity in restaurants and other businesses, or even a directive to stay home.
“But what we cannot have happened here is that we lose the ability to provide vital care in our hospitals,” he said.
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Hospitals in various regions of the state seem to be heading in that direction. And the governor asked the federal government for several hundred health workers to help with shortages at facilities across the state.
Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, one of the state’s largest hospitals, stopped some non-emergency medical procedures and said Thursday they were in capacity. Dr. Manley Jordan, medical director of Lake Charles’ largest hospital, Memorial Health System, said in an interview that the hospital has seen patients with COVID-19 jump from scratch in late May to 58 Thursday. He said he is concerned about the capacity of the hospitals’ intensive care unit, but more importantly, if the facility will have enough nurses and other health professionals to care for patients.
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“As of today we are treading water,” he said. “What worries is where we will be in a few days.”
Executives from the Lafayette region’s largest hospitals, Lafayette General and Our Lady of Lourdes, joined Edwards at a press conference to issue warnings about his ability.
Dr. Amanda Logue, medical director of the Lafayette General Medical Center, said, “Our hospital is full and our ICU is full.” The hospital has transferred patients to Mississippi, he said, and is quickly running out of space and personnel. Logue added that the system, which generally accepts transfers to its facilities, has rejected 87% of requests for transfers to its hospitals this month.
The five-hospital system had 20 patients with COVID-19 six weeks ago, and as of yesterday it had 143, he said.
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Dr. Henry Kaufman, medical director of Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center, said that for the past two weeks the hospital has almost completely stopped elective procedures, including serious surgeries such as heart bypass and stage cancer operations early.
“Our hospital is full,” said Kaufman. “Our intensive care unit is at or near capacity. This has significantly affected our normal operations. “
Hospitalizations were relatively stable on Thursday, but at the highest point since May 1. The state confirmed 2,300 more cases, making it the 12th state to reach the 100,000 case mark. The other 11 states are much larger; the closest in size is Massachusetts, which has 2.2 million more residents.
The case count also gave Louisiana the dubious No. 1 distinction in the country for per capita cases, beating New York, according to an analysis by the New York Times.
Staffing has become a key concern of health leaders in Louisiana. Kaufman said nurses are contracting the virus as it spreads throughout the community, taking them out of service for at least 10 days. That means nurses and other workers are burning due to exhausting hours, he said.
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Edwards said he asked nearly 700 health workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency last week to stop the growing staff shortage. That includes 200 nurses, 250 ICU nurses, 150 patient care assistants, 30 licensed practical nurses, 10 laboratory technicians, 40 respiratory therapy technicians, and 10 phlebotomists. That request came after Edwards consulted with health leaders across the state.
FEMA told the governor to first make that request to other states, but Louisiana received zero visits, indicating that staffing shortages are being experienced in the U.S.
Edwards noted that the state still has staff for 60 beds, about half of which are occupied, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, which the state spent millions to turn into a temporary hospital for less acute patients.
Unlike March and April, the state does not appear to be at risk of running out of fans and beds. The state stored the fans, which are used less frequently than initially thought, and has helped hospitals create overvoltage plans at their facilities.
Edwards said his biggest concern is staffing, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to attract staff from other parts of the country. He said he discussed the issue with Vice President Mike Pence last week when he visited LSU.
“Even if for some strange reason it is totally incomprehensible to me, you don’t care about COVID-19, you should worry about that hospital capacity when you have a car accident or when you have a heart attack or a stroke or your mother or grandmother has that blow” Edwards said. “Because we are talking about the same staff, the same beds, throughout Louisiana.”
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