Oregon hospitals are preparing for a new surge in COVID-19 patients.Some delayed surgery

As the pandemic approaches what could be a dangerous new surge, Oregon hospital officials are worried about the lack of staff and space to respond appropriately.

Hospitals that have already been depleted by pandemics were flooded with patients with acute illness this spring, most of them passing through harsh emergency departments.Or Put new stress on state hospitals, Addressed a shortage of already trained staff. Currently, some hospitals are making the difficult choice of delaying the procedure in anticipation of a new wave of COVID-19 patients.

The University of Oregon Health & Science limits the number of surgeries that can be scheduled per day and may begin to postpone non-urgent selective surgery.

Bend’s St. Charles Health System has transitioned to “emergency only” status indefinitely. It informed patients that they had postponed all selective surgery requiring an overnight stay until August 4th at the earliest.

Dr. Jeff Absalon, Executive Vice President of St. Charles, said: “Our hospital is essentially overwhelmed by patients with illnesses who suffer from COVID and other illnesses. They are ill and have been staying for a long time.”

The hospital’s ER and critical care center are already suitable for rupture. Hospital officials are amazed at the number of critically ill patients with ER this spring. These patients were thought to have delayed regular medical care for fear of the virus, but are now ill and require longer hospital stays.

Dr. Mary Giswold, Associate Medical Director of Kaiser Permanente’s Hospital and Post-Acute Care Services, pleaded: “If you haven’t been vaccinated with COVID-19, now is the time,” she said. “Currently, all beds are important. Given the increasing infection in Oregon, I’m worried about the coming weeks.”

Kaiser and Providence Health & Services are experiencing a shortage of beds with similar caregivers and staff.

The entire metropolitan emergency response system is confused by the huge case load of ER patients. Ambulance crews are routinely forced to “detour” to another hospital due to overcrowding. This spring, it became common for the ERs of all hospitals in the area to be in a “detour” state at the same time.

It will be an intolerable waiting time in the local emergency room. But it also puts pressure on the entire system. The same patient, who has waited hours for the first examination, can “board” the emergency room for as long as 24 hours to wait for the hospital bed to open.

The state reported the highest daily number of cases in at least three months on Tuesday, reporting a daily surge of 25% of hospitalized people. COVID-19 (New Coronavirus Infection)Encourage state authorities to recommend universal masking in indoor public spaces.

The Oregon Department of Health has reported 1,032 new confirmed cases. This is a daily total that is approximately equal to the number of cases per week starting in July.

Hospital officials are holding their breath. So far, the numbers remain manageable.

Legacy Health, which owns and operates six hospitals in Oregon, had 37 COVID-19 patients as of Wednesday.

“Since July 1st, we have 25-50 patients a day, so this isn’t a huge surge for Legacy so far,” said Legacy spokesman Brian Terrett.

According to Kaiser, the weekly average of patients hospitalized for the virus increased from 6.3 last week to 8.7 this week. Kaiser’s number of COVID-19 patients was generally in their late 30s to late 40s during the initial surge.

As of Wednesday, OHSU and its two small hospitals, Hillsboro Medical Center and Adventist Health Portland, had 19 COVID-19 patients.

Another major factor in the hospital’s current binding force is chronic staff shortages. Most of the state’s major hospitals and medical systems have hundreds of vacancies that they are trying to fill. St. Charles alone is trying to fill 600 openings, about half of which are nurses.

This is because nurses, certified nursing assistants, and other front-line caregivers have been well prepared after a pandemic of nearly 18 months. Morale is low and turnover is high in some areas. They either move to a less stressful role or resign altogether.

“Our incredible healthcare professionals are pretty tired of many of them,” said St. Charles Absalon. “We are deeply involved in the pandemic and it’s not over.”