it was a sweet moment

For those who are interested in the experiences of one midwestern academic medical center's experiences with COVID-19, here is my update this week. 

In the state of Kansas we have had 2,482 COVID-19 positive patients and 112 deaths as of early Friday am. There are now 3 counties with more than 150 cases each, compare this to Douglas County where I live that has 43 cases. This is related to workplace clusters, mostly in meat packing plants. The numbers of tests in Kansas has been slowly increasing from 700 per day last week to 1100 a day as of Friday. At our hospital we are able to do around 500 tests per day and have begun to do more screening. Patients and employees are now able to be tested if they have only 1 symptom, in an attempt to catch things earlier, isolate appropriately, and do contact tracing. 

As of this morning we have 24 COVID-19 positive patients in our hospital and 10 additional patients that are under investigation. To date 69 patients who have been COVID positive have been discharged.  We continue to admit 4-5 new patients per day and this number has not changed much.

We have not been hit with what was predicted in terms of the volume of patients who might require hospitalization.  For this we are grateful, and believe it is related to social distancing, and our ability to learn from what was happening in other parts of the world.  We continue to work on plans for increasing capacity if a surge happens. We are anticipating beginning to be able to do some more routine surgeries beginning next week - only those that require regional anesthesia (blocks) and not intubation and a general anesthetic. We are also preparing for the return of some clinic visits that can not be conducted using telehealth. Processes are being changed to ensure social distancing in these settings.   

What you have read/heard about African Americans and Hispanics being disproportianately affected and dying of this disease is absolutely what we are also seeing in Kansas City. One of the most heartbreaking aspects is how often we see multiple family members affected as well. A husband admitted to the hospital the day his wife died in another hospital, 2 brothers both on ventilators in the same hospital. All of this coupled with the inability to be together and comfort one another or have traditional funerals. 

One of our pulmonary specialists spent a week in NYC and reported back on his experiences there this week. Two things really struck me in his report back to us. #1 there is no clear front runner in the medications that are being trialed to combat this virus. We are doing our best to enroll patients in studies as much as possible, it is important for scientific and not anecdotal evidence to guide our therapies. #2 the nurses in ICU's at the hospital he went to were each caring for 8 to 10 patients. If you have ever been in an ICU you know that the typical nurse to patient ratio is 1 to 2. I can not even imagine. 

In closing tonight, let me share the absolute delight I felt today when a very dear 80 year old woman gave me the thumbs up sign and a big smile as I waved at her through her glass door. I put my hand over my heart, she replied with a wink. It was a sweet moment.

Comments

[jacki long]

A sweet moment indeed.

[Janet Ghio]

Thank you for the update in your part of the state. Columbia,MO where I live has done well-we have had a total of 97 cases here but some of those cases may be attributed to other towns near Columbia as we have the large University medical center here Our mayor very smartly issued social distancing-stay at home orders early and even before our governor. Stay well and thanks for all you do and for sharing your experiences.

[Linda Watson]

It's those moments that make this real to me, as I'm quite isolated in my stay-at-home and I get lost in the numbers. Thank you. (hand over my heart)

[Emie]

Thank you so much. It's amazing to me how far a little kindness goes. I can't even begin to comprehend how one ICU nurse is doing the work of 4-5 nurses. How in the world they're doing it is beyond me. No wonder we're hearing about medical staff going full shifts+ without eating or using the bathroom. I keep asking myself... "how did we ever get here?"