![]() ![]() “We’re already seeing that there’s no place to transfer people. Brett Bechtel, who works in Mercy Health-Lourdes Hosptial’s emergency room, said it’s been difficult to transfer patients who need specialized care. Hospital leaders said minors who need care would likely be transferred to a children’s hospital for speciality services, but there are no minors currently hospitalized in either hospital as of Thursday.ĭr. “If we don’t take ongoing aggressive steps, we’re not going to get it under control.” “I think it’s just important for people to really understand that in western Kentucky, we’re no different than everywhere else,” LeBuhn said. A slide from a presentation during the Thursday press conference, showing a rising test positivity rate at Baptist Health Paducah. Carl LeBuhn, an infectious disease specialist for both hospitals, said people need to take the virus seriously. Those needing ICU beds jumped from 27 to 65 and those on ventilators went from 10 to 26, according to the Purchase District Health Department:ĭr. Between July 19 and August 11, the number of people hospitalized due to COVID increased from 56 to 176. Hospital capacity has been strained across the eight western Kentucky counties in the Purchase region. Health officials in Mississippi recently said their hospital system could collapse in five to ten days if the current trajectory of hospitalizations continue. Housman said the hospitals are receiving requests to transfer coronavirus patients from facilities in Arkansas, Mississippi and even Texas, reminiscent of the beginning of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. “We’re having to be very judicious in how we allocate our surgery spots and our ICU spots, because we’re simply starting to run out of rooms.” “What’s been alarming to me is we’re seeing that positivity rate as high as we’ve really ever seen it,” Housman said. Brad Housman, Chief Medical Officer at Baptist Health Paducah, said the positivity rate for tests at Baptist Health Paducah is above 14%. To try and prevent this progressively difficult situation, they repeatedly emphasized that people need to get vaccinated and wear a mask.Ĭhief officers for both hospitals said they are seeing more positive COVID-19 results when testing patients before procedures and surgeries. Hospital leaders said they were concerned ICU bed shortages could cripple their ability to treat other medical emergencies like strokes. “If you were to see the type of suffering and misery that these people go through, I think the most extreme-hesitant-vaccine people would have some second thoughts about what they thought of things before,” Kelly said.ĭoctors working intensive care units said they have seen more cases and deaths among younger coronavirus patients, some previously healthy with no comorbidities. Kelly said the patients he’s treating are about 20 years younger compared to previous surges of the virus, and he’s particularly worried about running out of vital medicines, ventilators and the equipment that delivers oxygen itself. Western Kentucky has some of the lowest county-wide vaccination rates in the state, with the vast majority of counties in Kentucky having a “high” rate of community COVID-19 transmission, the most severe classification from the state. ![]() And it’s even more so now because it’s unnecessary,” Kelly said. ![]() It was heartbreaking to see older people die from this before. And that’s totally heartbreaking to see happen. “We’ve had a series of deaths of people under age 50. Keith Kelly, a pulmonary critical care doctor with Baptist Health, said he’s only seen deaths among unvaccinated patients. In a virtual press conference Thursday, doctors and hospital leaders with Baptist Health Paducah and Mercy Health-Lourdes Hospital described packed emergency rooms, with doctors having to decide who gets treated expediently and who waits for hours.ĭr. RELATED: Jennie Stuart sees steepest spike in COVID hospitalizations yet vast majority unvaccinated.Paducah hospital leaders and frontline doctors treating COVID-19 patients are sounding the alarm for residents to get vaccinated and wear masks as the delta variant of the virus continues to spread across the state.Īrea hospitals are reporting strains on bed capacity and other resources as they respond to an increase in cases and serious reactions to the virus. ![]()
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