“We are in a crisis”: Fargo Hospital collided with COVID cases

A senior Sanford Health official says the system is in crisis as patients with COVID-19 and non-COVID patients fill their wards.

“We believe that here at Fargo we are probably about two or three weeks away from the maximum in terms of COVID cases. But we are already in condition and we have been for a few weeks now because of the global census that is not COVID being very high, ”said Dr. Doug Griffin, vice president and chief physician at Sanford Health in Fargo.

Griffin said Sanford at Fargo is reducing surgical capacity by 30 percent in response. The reduction in medical procedures is occurring as Minnesota hospitals are already operating on reduced margins.

Although most hospital beds, including intensive care unit beds, are occupied by people without COVID-19, 208 people are in the ICU with the virus and 540 in the hospital receive care from COVID throughout the world. ‘State.

This is still well below the high watermark of the pandemic in the fall of last year.

Right now, there are 37 people at Fargo’s facilities with COVID-19, and that number could reach 90 patients according to hospital projections that predict the case count will peak in the coming weeks, he said. dir Griffin.

Overall, there are 141 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 throughout the Sanford system, with 48 of these patients in the ICU. The vast majority are not vaccinated.

Griffin said most of his patients with COVID are local or come from western North Dakota, where vaccination rates remain low. Griffin said the hospital is removing critically ill patients, some from southern Minnesota.

Griffin said staff shortages are also a factor in capacity reduction. Sanford offers financial incentives to attract and retain workers, including nurses, but also respiratory therapists and patient service staff.

“We will call staff frequently and offer great incentives for them to work harder. We are basically looking for [all the] we can get travel nurses, ”he said.