Newsworthy

Dear Community Partners,

We are facing a difficult and dire situation in the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important that we have a full understanding of what this means to us and the health care in our communities.

Our hospital is full.

• At the start of today, all of our hospital’s adult inpatient rooms were filled with 228 adults. This included our intensive care, intermediate care and medical care departments.
• Because of limited staffing, we were unable to safely care for additional patients.
• Of the 228 inpatients, 64 were COVID-19 positive. Eighty-three percent of the 64 COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated. In those who are unvaccinated, the virus often causes more serious illness, resulting in the need for hospitalization.

Our Emergency Department is overwhelmed.

• Our ED went on diversion Sunday afternoon. We remain on that status this afternoon.
• Diversion is when we are unable to accept any patients via ambulance.
• At the start of today, we had an Emergency Department full of ill and injured people. At 8 a.m., there were 14 patients waiting for inpatient rooms; 10 of them had been waiting for more than six hours. There was no space to move them to inpatient rooms because those were filled.

We have a log jam in accepting transfer patients from other hospitals.

• From Friday through Sunday, we had requests for 46 patients needing a transfer to receive care at our hospital.
• We were able to accept 15 patients. They range in age from an infant to late 70s.
• We were unable to accept 31 patients.
• Transfer requests came from across Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Nebraska. This indicates a widespread problem for overwhelmed hospitals trying to obtain care for their patients.

We are seeing COVID-19 patients who are younger and sicker.

• Of our weekend transfer requests for known positive COVID-19 patients, two were in their 30s, three in their 40s, two in their 50s and one in the 60s. Most were needing ICU level care.
• We had a COVID-19 positive patient in his 30s die over the weekend.

Our communities need to listen and respond constructively – COVID-19 is surging.

• We have too many people who are refusing to get the vaccine. The vaccines are safe, free and widely available. This is the pathway to get this wild fire under control.
• We have disinformation circulating that is discounting the effectiveness of facemasks. This sends such a wrong message and one that could be life-changing for community members who go without a mask and become infected with COVID-19. Masks help decrease the spread, please wear them.

This is our situation. This is our reality. We are not crying “wolf.” We are trying to provide clarity about the status of our community.

Be smart. Get vaccinated. Wear your masks.

It is time to again gain control of this pandemic.

Here are today’s updates:

• COVID-19 Scorecard (English | Spanish)
• COVID-19 Vaccines
• Cancer Center to Provide Booster Vaccines

COVID-19 Scorecard

Here’s a look at today’s COVID-19 scorecard:

• From the previous day – COVID-19 inpatient discharges: 3. Deaths: 1.
• We have 135 COVID-19 positive patients in the outpatient Enhanced Primary Care program. These patients receive additional support as outpatients to help keep them from needing hospitalization. An increasing of COVID-19 outpatients are also receiving monoclonal antibody treatments through our Infusion Center, which helps these patients avoid hospitalization.
• The percentage of patients testing positive for COVID-19 at Stormont Vail facilities the past seven days is 21.5% percent. The percent of positive cases who are unvaccinated is 83%.

COVID-19 Vaccines

• We have administered 87,597 vaccinations, which includes first and second doses of the vaccine.
• All Kansans age 12 and older are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
• COVID-19 vaccines are available through the Stormont Vail Retail Pharmacy, 2252 S.W. 10^th
• To schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment:
  • Go through your Stormont Vail MyChart
  • Use the online scheduling assistant at stormontvail.org/covid19/vaccine
  • Call (785) 270-4786.
• Walk-ins are welcome from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Cancer Center to Provide Booster Vaccines

Booster COVID-19 vaccinations for patients receiving active treatment at the Cotton O’Neil Cancer Center begins today. Patients scheduled for treatment will be considered for booster vaccination with the Pfizer vaccine. The patient’s oncologist will determine if the patient should have the vaccine and when the booster should be provided. The patient will then be scheduled for the vaccination at the cancer center.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended booster vaccinations for moderately to severely immunocompromised people. The CDC said those individuals are more vulnerable to COVID-19 because they have a greater risk of serious, prolonged illness.

We together,
Dr. K