Tri-Cities Hospital Exciting with COVID-19 Patients | Northwest

The number of COVID-19 patients in Cadrec, the largest hospital in the region, declined to teens at the end of spring, but is rising rapidly again.

He said he was concerned about the burnout of staff for almost a year and a half to a pandemic.

Tired and discouraged by the ongoing pandemic, he said, has left the healthcare industry not only in Cadrec, but throughout the state.

However, Tri-Cities hospitals can have a harder time hiring more workers than other hospitals in the state.

Low vaccination rates can make the Tricitys region less competitive in attracting health care workers, maintaining community health care, and making Cadrec function as a community hospital, Carille said. ..

Kadlec said he was alienating patients transferred from other small hospitals in the area due to a lack of safe care staff.

Hospital intensive care units are often used and at the same time large in other ICUs in the northwest, and it can be difficult to find a place to accept untreated intensive care units in the Tri-Cities area.

They include people who have had a stroke, heart attack, or were injured in a car accident.

“And as the number of these COVIDs continues to grow, unfortunately it only overwhelms the ability to handle many other problems that have been exacerbated by COVIDs over the past year and a half,” he said. ..

Dr. Kevin Peeper, Cadrec’s Chief Medical Officer, said at a recent press conference by Benton Franklin Health District that new COVID-19 patients tend to get sick while other patients being treated in the hospital. Said that a surge was happening.

He said many people postponed medical treatment after the pandemic began, fearing exposure to the coronavirus. Their condition worsened as they delayed access to medical care.

The hospital is also treating younger patients with COVID-19 who are more severe than in the early stages of the pandemic, Pieper said.

The highest prevalence in the Tri-Cities area is for people between the ages of 20 and 39, and hospitals are accepting more COVID-19 patients under the age of 50.

“These are mostly unvaccinated people,” he said.

Dr. Amy Person, a health officer in the Benton Franklin Health District, said more than half of the Tricity’s population was not vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to data from the Washington State Department of Health, only 48% of Benton County residents who are old enough to be vaccinated are fully vaccinated, down to 41% in Franklin County.

“Until the rate of vaccination is high, we will have to fight the surge in case rates and the surge in hospitalizations,” she said.

Not only is Kaleel concerned about staff burnout, but he continues to keep the hospital “semi-blocked” for visitors, preventing patients from taking their desired family around.

He is also concerned that if vaccination coverage does not increase, the chances of mutation will increase as the coronavirus is passed from person to person.

He said current vaccines may not be very effective against new strains of coronavirus.

In the early days of the pandemic, the Tri-Cities community gathered for help.

Kadlec helped find the face masks needed before they were fully supplied, and every day community members donated food to health care workers who worked long hours.

According to Carille, healthcare professionals need to regroup the community, this time to boost immunity to COVID-19 to more people who can be vaccinated.

“We now know from a lot of evidence that if there is a way to increase the proportion of vaccinated people in our community, it will make a big difference to the health of our community,” he said. Said.

He encourages unvaccinated people to talk to their doctor about the vaccine, rather than looking for information from social media or the politicians on the right and left.

“Look at the sources that follow science and understand what’s right for you,” he said.