Ann Enderle RN checks a COVID-19 patient at St. John’s Medical Center. Luke’s Boise of Boise, Idaho, Aug. 31. Idaho public health leaders have activated “crisis care standards” for hospitals in the north of the state because there are more coronavirus patients than institutions can handle. (Kyle Green, Associated Press)
BOISE, Idaho – Idaho public health leaders have activated “crisis care standards” for hospitals in the north of the state because there are more coronavirus patients than institutions can support.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare enacted the move Monday in silence and publicly announced it in a statement Tuesday morning, warning residents that they might not receive the care they would normally expect if they were to be hospitalized.
It came when confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state were triggered in recent weeks. Idaho has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the US
The agency cited “a severe shortage of staff and available beds in the northern part of the state caused by a massive increase in COVID-19 patients in need of hospitalization.”
The designation includes 10 hospitals and health care systems in the Idaho panhandle and north-central Idaho. The agency said its goal is to extend care to as many patients as possible and save as many lives as possible.
The move allows hospitals to allocate scarce resources, such as rooms in the intensive care unit, to patients most likely to survive.
Other patients will still receive care, but may be placed in hospital classrooms or conference rooms instead of traditional hospital rooms or go without medical equipment to save lives.
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen made the decision to enact crisis standards around 5 p.m. Monday after the state’s Crisis Standards Activation Advisory Committee determined that all other measures taken to help alleviate staff shortages and lack of beds had been exhausted.
The department waited until Tuesday morning to make the public announcement “out of respect for hospitals,” department spokeswoman Niki Forbing-Orr said in an email. He did not elaborate or immediately answer questions that sought more detail.
State health care providers have fearfully planned to overwhelm patients at Idaho hospitals. Medical experts have said Idaho could have up to 30,000 new cases of coronavirus a week by mid-September if the current rate of infections persists.
“Crisis care standards are the last resort. It means we have exhausted our resources to the point that our health systems cannot provide the treatment and care we expect,” said the director of the health department and Idaho welfare officer Dave Jeppesen in a statement. .
Crisis care standards are the last resort. It means we have exhausted our resources to the point that our healthcare systems cannot provide the treatment and care we expect.
–Dave Jeppesen, director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare
He added: “This is a decision I was keen to avoid. The best tools we have to get around it are to get more people vaccinated and wear masks indoors and in crowded public places outdoors. please choose to get vaccinated as soon as possible, it is your best protection against hospitalization for COVID-19. “
The designation will remain in effect until there are sufficient resources (including hospital staff, beds and equipment, or a decrease in the number of patients) to provide normal levels of treatment for all.
More than 500 people were hospitalized in the state with COVID-19 on Sept. 1, the latest data available on the Department of Health and Welfare website, and more than a third of them were in beds. intensive care.
Idaho hospitals have struggled to fill vacancies in nursing, home maintenance and other health services, in part because some officials have left because they are burned by the pandemic tension and because others have been quarantined because they were exposed to COVID-19.
More than 500 people were hospitalized in the state with COVID-19 on Sept. 1, the latest data available on the Department of Health and Welfare website, and more than a third of them were in beds. intensive care.
Idaho hospitals have struggled to fill vacancies in nursing, home maintenance and other health services, in part because some officials have left because they are burned by the pandemic tension and because others have been quarantined because they were exposed to COVID-19.
Late last month, Little called in 220 available medical workers through federal programs and mobilized 150 Idaho National Guard soldiers to help hospitals cope with the increase.
Two hundred of the federal workers are medical and administrative staff available through a contract with the United States General Services Administration. The U.S. Department of Defense agreed to send a 20-person medical response team to northern Idaho. Idaho National Guard soldiers will assist with logistical support, such as screenings and lab work.
On Tuesday, the governor called the measure to limit attention “an unprecedented and unwanted point in our state’s history” and urged residents to get vaccinated against coronavirus.
Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that complete vaccination with any of the currently available coronavirus vaccines drastically reduces the risk of requiring hospitalization for a coronavirus infection.
“More Idahoans should choose to receive the vaccine so we can minimize the spread of the disease and reduce the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, many of which involve younger Idahoans and can be prevented with safe and effective vaccines,” Little said , who is a Republican.
When the pandemic first hit Idaho in early 2020, Little ordered a partial closure of the state: it ordered some companies to temporarily close or move into retreat-style services, banning some large meetings. and asking residents to stay home as much as possible.
The move was aimed at ensuring that hospitals are not overwhelmed by patients. Idaho was on the verge of enacting crisis care standards during a major coronavirus wave last winter, but narrowly avoided it, making it the first time the state has taken drastic action.
Little reopened the state in stages over a period of several months and has not re-imposed restrictions that limit meetings. Most companies operate normally.
State crisis guidelines are complex and provide hospitals with an ethical and legal template to use during care rationing.
According to the guidelines, patients have priority scores based on several factors that affect their likelihood of surviving a health crisis.
People who are considered most in need of care and most likely to benefit from these are on priority lists for scarce resources such as ICU beds.
Other people who need it extremely, but are less likely to survive, will be given “comfort care” to help keep them pain-free, whether they succumb to their illnesses or recover.
Other patients with serious but not life-threatening medical problems will be delayed in receiving care until resources are available.