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* Manny Ramos at the Sun-Times…
Roseland Community Hospital has operated at about 90% of capacity each day since nearby MetroSouth Medical Center closed last year.
And that’s before the coronavirus outbreak hit.
So Roseland, a so-called safety net hospital that serves predominantly low-income families on the city’s far South Side, is now bracing for a wave of patients to come through its doors.
“I think even a single hospitalized COVID-19 patient causes an overburden for us because it brings staffing issues and concern of the virus transferring to other people,” said Dr. Terrill Applewhite, chairman of the Roseland’s COVID-19 task force. “Even though we are facing this crisis, we are still dealing with everyday ailments.”
In that sense, Roseland is not alone. And it’s not just bed space about which hospitals are concerned.
Illinois hospitals used to have a lot of excess bed capacity, but that started changing about five years ago as hospitals began closing. Anyway, go read the whole thing.
* Rural hospitals are also at risk…
Those hospitals in small-town America that have survived rely heavily on moneymakers such as elective surgeries, physical therapy and lab tests to make their razor-thin margins work. But, according to the Chicago-based Chartis Center for Rural Health, almost half of them still operate in the red.
So the added financial hit from the coronavirus outbreak could be the final straw for many rural hospitals — exposing the complicated business dynamics at play within the United States’ critical public health infrastructure.
“This virus, and what it is causing for these hospitals, is the perfect storm that will close these hospitals at a time this country critically needs them,” says Robin Rau, CEO of Miller County Hospital in southwestern Georgia. “This is going to be the death blow to them.”
* What’s at stake…
While the virus is mild for the vast majority of people, the concern is so many people in Illinois are getting it that “even the small number of people who have trouble recovering is more than our health care system may be able to handle,” Pritkzer said Saturday.
That’s proven deadly in other locations: Italy’s health care system was overloaded by the sheer volume of cases there and doctors and hospitals haven’t had the resources to care for people who could otherwise be saved. That’s led to a surge of deaths there — 5,476 as of Sunday.
* Probably prudent, but still enraging…
Days after it began to ramp up drive-thru testing for patients who may be infected with the novel coronavirus, the Advocate Aurora Health hospital system announced Friday that it has suspended that program because of a national shortage of test kits and processing materials.
Advocate said in a news release that state health officials and the Illinois Health and Hospital Association were seeking “to conserve tests for those in critical need.”
“It’s an ongoing issue for all our hospitals in Illinois and across the country,” said Danny Chun, spokesman for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association. “There are very limited supplies of testing kits, nasal swabs and reagents — chemicals used to test the specimens — in large part due to the very small rollout of test kits by the federal government.”
* Meanwhile in New York…
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday mandated that all hospitals in the state increase the number of beds in their facilities by at least 50 percent as part of a multipronged effort to ensure that an anticipated surge in COVID-19 cases won’t overwhelm the medical system.
Cuomo, during his daily coronavirus briefing, encouraged hospitals across the state to aim for a 100 percent increase. The governor has repeatedly cited statistics showing that the state currently has about 53,000 beds, but projections show there might be a need for as many as 110,000 within a few weeks.
* Related…
* ADDED: Chicago plans to rent thousands of hotel rooms for coronavirus isolation in move to preserve space in hospitals
* Hospital officials: Illinois should consider reopening shuttered facilities to help care for COVID-19 patients
* U.S. Hospitals Prepare Guidelines For Who Gets Care Amid Coronavirus Surge
* ‘Chicago Med,’ ‘Fire’ and ‘P.D.’ join other TV shows donating masks, other supplies used as props to hospitals for coronavirus treatment
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Mar 23, 20 @ 11:33 am
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Republican Congressional District residents, please call your Member in Congress and ask that the legislation on the virus financial bailout prioritize for healthcare concerns, including those for community and especially for people in financial need. we need to get people well in order to use industries like hotels but unless we make that a priority, we won’t get them well. also, keep social distancing in place. stop the spread.
Comment by Amalia Monday, Mar 23, 20 @ 11:36 am
We should be converting empty hotels into quarantines.
There are not going to be enough tests or labs in the foreseeable future to identify those carrying the virus who are symptomatic, or contact trace everyone they have interacted with.
The only solution is to isolate those with symptoms away from their families.
Comment by Thomas Paine Monday, Mar 23, 20 @ 11:40 am
The governor and DCEO should be meeting with biotech and manufactures 24-7 to ramp up production on needed projects. Heck, give them the money to transition production equipment.
Suspend all other incentive programs temporarily. We don’t need work force training now. We need supplies.
Comment by Blue Dog Dem Monday, Mar 23, 20 @ 11:47 am
=New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday mandated that all hospitals in the state increase the number of beds in their facilities by at least 50 percent=
How does that happen, though? Where do those 50% more beds come from, and where does the space in which to put them come from?
Comment by JoanP Monday, Mar 23, 20 @ 11:51 am
“We should be converting empty hotels into quarantines.”
https://chicago.suntimes.com/coronavirus/2020/3/23/21190805/mayor-lightfoot-coronavirus-chicago-use-empty-hotel-rooms-isolation-quarantine-spaces
Comment by Huh? Monday, Mar 23, 20 @ 11:51 am
ThomasPaine @ 11:40: The city is way ahead of you:
Chicago plans to rent thousands of hotel rooms for coronavirus isolation in move to preserve space in hospitals
Comment by Northsider Monday, Mar 23, 20 @ 11:59 am
“We should be converting empty hotels into quarantines.”
SIU C has some high rises that might work.
Comment by Bigtwich Monday, Mar 23, 20 @ 12:09 pm
==Days after it began to ramp up drive-thru testing for patients who may be infected with the novel coronavirus, the Advocate Aurora Health hospital system announced Friday that it has suspended that program because of a national shortage of test kits and processing materials.==
But I was told our current market-driven health care system involved no rationing.
Comment by Precinct Captain Monday, Mar 23, 20 @ 12:27 pm
Volunteers are sewing face masks, theaters are donating their supplies of respirators and other safety equipment.
This shouldn’t be necessary.
One of the most frustrating things about this pandemic is how ill-prepared the country is.
Comment by JoanP Monday, Mar 23, 20 @ 1:02 pm
An ER physician of my acquaintance, put out a call for N95 masks. I dug through my basement and found a half dozen left over from work I did last spring and summer. I was glad to be of help- but the idea that a Doctor would need stuff from my basement?
Comment by West Sider Monday, Mar 23, 20 @ 1:18 pm
Westsider - I did the same thing - took N95 masks left over from a mouse droppings clean up job last summer to my local hospital. They were so appreciative I wanted to cry.
Comment by RIJ Monday, Mar 23, 20 @ 2:18 pm
Finding more hospital bed space also means finding the extra staff/equipment/meds for that increase. If NY uses 100,000 people to care for those 53,000 beds, where are they going to find an additional 100,000 staff if they move to 110,000 beds? And all the support systems that need to follow that volume. Yow.
Comment by zatoichi Monday, Mar 23, 20 @ 4:02 pm
I lost one of my family members in London, UK this morning. He experienced symptoms as early as Friday the 13th. He had a swab done at a drive thru on that day. I spoke last to my relative on Monday and I assure you he was already in bad shape and still at home. The next morning a friend of his phoned him only to find him in a delirium stage. He was rushed to the hospital where a second test was administered. It was later discovered that the first test got damaged in the processing. Between the two tests (i.e. five days), my relative attempted multiple times to contact the NHS for treatment with no success. By the time he was administered the second test, and resulted positive, he was in critical condition. He passed away this morning.
Had that first test being processed properly would have allowed an early detection of the virus and possibly my relative could still be alive today.
The point I would like to make here is that it is critical to get tests to as many people as possible to try to detect the virus in its EARLY. To administer a COVID test when the patient is already seriously ill is a death sentence to me.
South Korea and Germany have experienced a low number of deaths because of the early and massive testing.
Comment by Tomacci Monday, Mar 23, 20 @ 7:24 pm
“SIU C has some high rises that might work.” -Bigtwich
WIU also has a couple of buildings that had already been taken “offline” this semester that could probably be used in an emergency.
Comment by Scott Tuesday, Mar 24, 20 @ 9:39 am