They expelled their nurses. They turned it into hell for their employees, ”says Rep. Paul Ray
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune), Rep. Paul Ray of R-Clearfield said Wednesday it was a “fear” to blame the ICU’s overflow on the state only in unvaccinated Utahns.
A Utah Republican lawmaker inaccurately stated that the shortage of ICU beds in Utah hospitals was not due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but in part due to poor business decisions.
Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, made the comment during a hearing on what lawmakers could do to thwart President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for businesses. Ray wondered if people needed to be vaccinated.
“It simply came to our notice then. If you choose not to get vaccinated, you will get sick and die. This is about you. This is your call, ”Ray said.
Unexpectedly, Ray went on to report that ICU beds in Utah were out of capacity because unvaccinated people were hospitalized due to the runaway spread of the delta variant.
“IHC says they have no space. They are not out of space. They have lost their employees. They expelled his doctors. They expelled their nurses. They made it hell for their employees, ”Ray said. They were trapped in their pants. Now all of a sudden it’s our fault. “
Dr. Marc Harrison, president and CEO of Intermountain Healthcare, said last week that Utah’s largest health care system would begin postponing some surgeries because the increase in COVID cases has made the ICU’s capacity to Intermountain hospitals exceeded 100%.
Ray, who sponsored the “end of the pandemic” bill earlier this year that lifted most of the restrictions related to COVID, said it was absurd to blame the lack of capacity entirely on the COVID pandemic. and to those who were not vaccinated.
“Primary school children said they had 103% capacity in the pediatric ICU. They had two patients with COVID, the rest were trauma and RSV. We get some honesty here. Let’s stop being scared. We stop trying to push people and let them make their own decisions at once and get the government out of it, ”Ray said.
Jess Gomez, a spokeswoman for Intermountain Healthcare, discussed Ray’s claim.
“This characterization is not accurate. All Utah and national health systems have been profoundly affected by the COVID pandemic and the steady increase in new cases and hospitalizations caused by community transmission of the delta variant. Intermountain Healthcare also continues to experience very high patient volumes for patient care with COVID and non-COVID. Our caregivers and leaders are working very hard to provide the best possible care during this extraordinary period, ”Gomez said in an email to The Tribune.
Utah health officials said Tuesday that approximately 1,900 more Utah tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and that 11 more died from coronavirus. School-age children contracted approximately one in four new cases.
In a phone conversation with The Tribune on Wednesday afternoon, Ray clarified that his first comment about the lack of staff referred to the lack of regular hospital beds, not just the ICU.
“Let’s be more advanced with people. They have no staff to care for patients in normal beds. I have an idea that the ICUs are full, but they can’t just blame COVID, ”said Ray.
In the early stages of the pandemic, Intermountain threatened the cuts due to lower admissions due to COVID-19, avoiding many optional or elective surgical procedures and lower hospital admissions. Revenue fell about $ 435 million from March to May 2020. As a result, IHC ended up cutting contributions from 401 (k) employee matches.
“I will continue to record that IHC is the best medical system I have seen in many places. But, some of their capacity issues are the result of administrative decisions they have made, ”Ray said.