Need to get ‘super creative’
Ruston’s Northern Louisiana Medical Center is on the verge of having to figure out how to care for a continuing surge of COVID-19 patients, as well as other people needing hospital treatment.
“We’re fixing to have to get super creative,” Pam Sampognaro, NLMC’s chief quality officer, said Wednesday. “We are so short staffed it’s, 'How can we take care of everybody?'”
On July 29, NLMC requested emergency help through the Louisiana Department of Health. They asked for three respiratory therapists, three ICU registered nurses, 12 medical registered nurses, seven ER registered nurses and six licensed practical nurses, according to LDH records.
So far, they’ve gotten nothing.
As of Wednesday, NLMC’s census included more than 20 COVID patients. That’s double the number from eight days ago.
The hospital has more COVID patients now than it has had at any other time during the pandemic, Sampognaro said.
Some of the patients are in intensive care and others in the emergency department. Four of the patients were on ventilators as of Wednesday morning. Some are on high-flow oxygen, with the majority needing ICU-level care, Sampognaro said.
Most of the patients are unvaccinated, she said.
NLMC’s story mirrors that of hospitals across Louisiana: They have plenty of room, but not enough staff to take care of the patient load. If temporary nurses can be found, their cost typically exceeds what NLMC can pay.
Plus, “a lot of our nurses are chasing the money,” Sampognaro said.
And the peak in cases doesn’t appear to be on the immediate horizon.
“If we don’t peak within a week or two, it’s simply going to be a catastrophic situation for hospitals,” Dr. Joe Kanter, Louisiana’s chief health officer, told the Louisiana Board of Regents during a specially called virtual meeting Tuesday.
“Not so much for physical space — hospitals will make physical space where they can. But for staff and resources. There’s just not enough qualified staff in the state right now to care for all these patients,” Kanter said.
Lincoln Parish has added 39 new confirmed cases this week, LDH reports show. The parish’s confirmed COVID death count has also gone up by one, to 88. Probable local COVID deaths have also increased by one; that number now stands at nine.
Meantime, cases, deaths and hospitalizations statewide continue to set daily records.
Wednesday’s LDH report showed 2,895 patients hospitalized statewide.
The Monroe region, of which Lincoln Parish is a part, on Wednesday posted one of the highest single day confirmed COVID cases increase in the state at 294. The region also had one of the state’s highest COVID hospitalization numbers.
Officials continue to blame the surge on the more contagious Delta variant Louisiana’s low COVID-19 vaccination rate.
Louisiana is under a statewide mask mandate until Sept. 1.
