Reid Health: ‘This is an emergency situation,’ Thanksgiving fallout blamed for hospitalization surge

RICHMOND — Some hospitals throughout Reid Health’s multi-state region are reporting they have no room for more patients, not enough high-acuity staff to care for patients or in some situations both.

>> US tops 800,000 COVID-19-related deaths

“Area health systems are being overrun with COVID-19 cases, leaving few to no resources for other medical needs,” Reid Health said in a statement. “This is an emergency situation and requires everyone in our communities to do their part to reduce the spread of the virus.”

The Indiana Department of Health reported that Wayne County has 485 cases per 100,000 people last week, with the county’s testing positivity rate rising to 8.95 percent.

For perspective, Ohio is currently sitting statewide at 718.5 cases per 100,000 people. In the Miami Valley, the county with the most COVID-19 spread is Auglaize which is the 10th highest county in the state with 994.4 cases per 100,000 people. Montgomery and Greene counties are toward the bottom of the state with 535.8 and 501.4 cases per 100,000 people.

Last week, Reid Health and Wayne HealthCare both announced a pause on elective surgeries.

“This isn’t so much about physical capacity. We have spaces in our buildings where we can float people over. We do have an overflow area open in one section of the hospital that we’re able to staff, we have others we could leverage. But the problem is that we don’t have the staff,” said Dr. Tom Huth, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Reid Health. “The problem we have is there’s just way too much demand for the capacity that we have.”

Reid Health believes the new surge is likely fallout from Thanksgiving and other holiday-related gathers, which has the agency concerned about Christmas parties and New Year’s celebrations in the coming weeks.

“It really is a gridlock in the system that is partly driven by our own staffing shortages primarily, but also our inability to move these people to other hospitals we would normally be able to transfer to when some of our services are overloaded,” Huth said. “It’s a healthcare system wide problem in this part of the country right now – Indiana and Ohio.”

While Reid Health is struggling with capacity issues and delaying some elective surgeries, Premier Health also is having to reschedule some procedures.

“At this time, we are balancing schedules to maximize the care we can provide, including elective surgeries,” Premier Health said. “We understand that just as COVID-19 is not letting up, neither are many other health care needs in the community.”

Kettering Health said it remains capable of caring for all patients, including those with COVID-19.

“Like many hospital systems in Ohio, we have seen an increase in the number of COVID-19 patients. We are constantly assessing the pandemic and adapting our approach to provide the best care possible for our community,” Kettering Health said.

In Ohio, hospitalizations have surged passed the statewide fall spike with 4,615 people actively hospitalized with COVID-19. The fall peak from this year topped out at 3,699 people hospitalized in late September. However, the overall peak during the pandemic still is this same week last December, when 5,308 people were hospitalized with the virus.

©2021 Cox Media Group