Blanchard Valley Hospital remains 'extremely busy'

Blanchard Valley Hospital remains "extremely busy," due to a mixture of staffing shortages, COVID-19 patients and community members catching up on needed care. On Wednesday, Dr. William Kose, vice president of special projects for Blanchard Valley Health System, said the emergency department as well as the hospital as a whole are busy. A big reason for this is many people put off seeking other types of health care earlier in the pandemic. Kose said an orthopedist recently told him of people getting hip and knee replacements later than they had intended to, for example. Over the past several weeks, about eight to 13 patients have been waiting for a bed in the hospital every morning, Kose said. Some of this is the availability of the beds themselves, but a large part of it is also that staffing is "really tight," Kose said. Some staff are sick, or under quarantine orders because they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. Kose said there are "lots of open positions" at the hospital, noting it has been a trend worldwide that health workers have retired early or otherwise chosen to leave the field. As of Wednesday morning, the hospital had 24 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, including 13 in critical care and five on a ventilator, Kose said. Of those 24 patients, 20 were unvaccinated, he said. And Kose said getting vaccinated helps protect not just you, but others around you. He noted that Gen. Colin Powell, the former secretary of state whose death from COVID-19 complications was reported Monday, was at "extremely high risk" despite having been vaccinated. This is not just because of Powell's age, 84, but also that he had multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer that challenges the immune system. Kose expects the hospital to stay busy through the first quarter of 2022, particularly since other illnesses like influenza are more prevalent in the winter. And while Kose has previously expressed concerns about people putting off needed health care, he said Wednesday that he thinks patients are more aware now than they had been of hospital safety protocols. This includes universal mask wearing and screening for COVID-19 before being admitted to the hospital. Arthurs: 419-427-8494