Record number of COVID-related hospitalizations straining Blue Mountain Hospital District
Published 6:14 pm Thursday, January 6, 2022
Surging COVID-19 case counts driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant appear to be impacting a number of Grant County health care facilities operated by the Blue Mountain Hospital District, with severe winter weather playing a role as well.
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COVID-related hospitalizations set a record last week at Blue Mountain Hospital, which had seven patients diagnosed with the disease at one point, but the number had dropped to just one as of Monday, Jan. 11.
In a phone interview on Friday, Jan. 7, Blue Mountain Hospital District CEO Derek Daley told the Eagle that emergency transportation relief from the state helped get patients to other hospitals as road conditions improved. Additionally, he said, the hospital discharged a couple of patients.
Daley said the hospital’s staffing shortage reached a “critical point” on Tuesday and Wednesday, but with employees returning from quarantine they were “sitting pretty well” by the end of the week. Altogether, he said, the hospital had roughly five employees who became infected with coronavirus.
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Daley emphasized that number was an estimate and added that the hospital did not have any emergency staffers infected with the virus. However, he said that the state sent two EMS technicians to assist the hospital with patient transportation due to weather concerns.
Meanwhile, upwards of 10 staff members at Blue Mountain Care Center, a senior assisted living facility in Prairie City, tested positive for the virus, Daley said. At the same time, an unknown number of residents came down with the virus as well.
Daley said the state dispatched a registered nurse and six certified nursing assistants to shore up the staffing shortfall there. He added it was unclear how long the staffers will remain at the care center.
The immediate concern, according to Daley, is to ensure staffing support for the next few weeks. Beyond that, he would like to solidify a contract with the state for the next couple of months to get through the winter.
As of Wednesday, Jan. 5, the Oregon Health Authority was reporting an outbreak with 15 cases of COVID-19 associated with the Strawberry Wilderness Community Clinic in John Day. Daley said he was only aware of four or five clinic employees who have tested positive since early December, but workplace outbreaks can also include household members or other close contacts of people who work at a particular facility.
While the situation has now eased considerably, soaring case counts and extreme weather conditions combined last week to put a severe strain on Blue Mountain Hospital’s limited resources. The John Day hospital is licensed for 25 beds but is currently staffed for 16.
Ordinarily, patients who need a higher level of care can be transferred to larger hospitals in Bend or Boise, freeing up bed space at Blue Mountain, but stormy weather and icy roads temporarily limited transportation options.
Rebekah Rand, the hospital’s emergency services manager, said last week that the ability to transfer patients by air was rapidly changing and dependent on the weather conditions at the accepting hospital and Grant County Regional Airport.
Even when the airport is open, she said, the pilot of any incoming flight has the final say on whether they come or not.
Ground transportation options were also limited until road conditions improved later in the week, Rand said.
COVID-19 admissions at Blue Mountain Hospital reached a peak late last week. Kimberly Lindsay, Grant County’s public health administrator, told the Eagle on Thursday, Jan. 6, that seven people of various ages were hospitalized with the virus.
She said the hospital was being impacted by the virus on both the front and back end.
“There are two ways that hospital systems get impacted,” she said. “They get impacted on the front with infected individuals, and they get impacted on the back end with staffing shortages due to staff becoming ill with the virus.”
Both of those things happened during the week, Lindsay said.
Lori Lane, the public information officer for the hospital district, said Blue Mountain Hospital would be limiting its patients to one visitor per day, except for end-of-life visits. At the same time, she said, all other district services would remain available and operational as usual.
Lane said those interested in virtual care options where applicable were encouraged to discuss them with their primary care provider or registration staff.
She said those with COVID-related symptoms should call the hospital ahead of time to prevent the spread of the virus among patients and staff and that the state’s pandemic protocols are still required upon entry to the hospital.
With case counts soaring across the country and the state, more emphasis is now being placed on testing.
Last week, Gov. Kate Brown ordered 12 million at-home COVID-19 tests. Lindsay said Grant County would be receiving more than 1,000 tests altogether.
Lindsay said there are two tests in each box, similar to those sold at pharmacies.
According to Lindsay, hospitals will receive roughly three times as many tests as public health departments.
In an email on Monday, Jan. 10, Lane said she did not know how many tests the hospital will be getting or when it would receive its shipment.
She said the hospital and other entities are working on a plan with the health department to distribute tests throughout the county.
Meanwhile, the Oregon Health Authority reported 56 hospitalizations on Monday in region seven, which Grant County shares with Deschutes, Harney, Klamath, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake and Wheeler counties.
The hospital has six negative pressure rooms, otherwise referred to as isolation rooms, for patients infected with the virus, according to Lane. Additionally, Lane said, the hospital has a five-bed COVID-19 unit in the event of a surge in hospitalizations.
According to Kelly McNitt, the hospital’s director of nursing services, Grant County’s soaring case count mirrors what health officials see statewide and across the country.
In a press conference on Friday, Jan. 7, health officials with the state noted that they expect the strain on hospitals to peak at the end of the month.
“We’re seeing some people get pretty sick,” Lindsay said. “And it is impacting a broad spectrum of people, and we just really want to emphasize the importance (of taking precautions against infection).”