In the third wave of COVID-19 to hit Ohio, approximately one-third of the patients at Knox Community Hospital in recent weeks have tested positive for the virus, CEO Bruce White told the Mount Vernon News.
For the hospital, bed space is not as much of a challenge as is ensuring that enough staff are available to treat the patients, White said.
“In times of real emergency, cots are used and other types of things,” he said. “The bigger issue for everyone this time around is staff. It’s nurses, it’s respiratory therapists, it’s nurse practitioners. It’s across the board.”
Knox Community is licensed for 99 beds, White said. Typically, it has staff to care for about 65 patients at a time.
“For the past month or so, we have been flirting with the upper limit in all areas,” he said. “Our census has been in the high 50s, low 60s. So we’re kind of pushing up against there. More importantly, we are kind of pushing the upper limits of the intensive care unit and the progressive care unit where the more acute patients are housed.”
So far, the hospital has been able to continue offering non-COVID-related medical procedures.
“If we’ve had to defer anything, it’s been very minor,” White said.
As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to increase, however, the hospital may have to start deferring surgeries that require patients to stay in the hospital to recover after the operation, he said.
“If we don’t have the beds or the staff to take care of those patients, then those kinds of surgeries would have to be deferred,” White said. “As of right now, we haven’t had to do that, but we are watching it day by day.”
Knox Community Hospital has all private rooms, he noted. Patients are isolated in their rooms and staff don protective equipment before entering the rooms.
As the nation awaits arrival of vaccines for COVID-19, White said that it is important for residents to make a “fourth-quarter push” to prevent the spread of the virus.
“We’re not seeing any plateau yet,” he said. “The numbers are still going up.”
People should remain vigilant about wearing masks, social distancing and avoiding large gatherings.
“We can do this,” White said.
