Wichita hospitals hit record COVID-19 patients; still room for more patients
Ascension Via Christi had its beds dedicated for COVID-19 patients filled at one point Wednesday but still had beds available for other types of patients and could make room for more COVID-19 patients, according to a hospital spokesperson.
The number of COVID-19 patients at St. Francis, where Ascension Via Christi houses COVID-19 patients, changes constantly but had a high of 56 on Wednesday. Ascension Via Christi has contingency plans in place for increased COVID-19 cases and adds or drops beds as the virus’ impact ebbs and flows throughout the community. It had to add COVID-19 intensive care unit beds last week after seeing more patients, Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Sam Antonios said.
On Wednesday, Sedgwick County Manager Tom Stolz said he was told the healthcare system was at capacity for COVID-19 and Wesley Medical Center would likely be nearing it — Wesley also reported a record high of 40 COVID-19 patients on Wednesday.
“(Ascension Via Christi) are wanting to talk with us about some emergency funding perhaps,” Stolz told the Sedgwick County Commission during a meeting Wednesday morning. “They are looking at options now for overflow patients and staffing concerns.”
Stolz said Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act dollars could be used to help with COVID-19 patients.
Commissioner Jim Howell questioned if the capacity was hospital-wide and mentioned he had heard many patients were not residents.
The Ascension Via Christi spokesperson said the “vast majority” of its COVID-19 patients continue to be from Sedgwick County. Wesley Medical Center spokesperson Dave Stewart also said a majority of COVID-19 patients are Sedgwick County residents.
In an email, Antonios said Ascension Via Christi has a high number of patients hospital-wide. Stewart said Wesley Medical Center is at 90% capacity hospital-wide, which has been pretty consistent throughout the pandemic.
Wesley’s 40 COVID-19 patients reported on Wednesday represent about 10% of total patients, according to Stewart.
“The 40 patients currently being treated represent a significant uptick in hospitalizations from COVID19, and we remain concerned that this increase reflects the public moving away from the recommended precautions needed to control the spread of COVID19 in our community,” Stewart said in an email. “We encourage everyone to wear masks in public, practice hand hygiene and social distance whenever possible so that we can begin reducing the infection rate across Sedgwick County and ensure that our healthcare resources are not strained more than necessary.”
Ascension Via Christi and Wesley Medical Center reported 90 COVID-19 patients during a weekly report on Monday. The previous high was 72 patients on Aug. 3. Available data dates back to the end of June.
The increase in COVID-19 patients caused Ascension Via Christi to add 25 traveling nurses in Wichita, Pittsburg and Manhattan.
“We are committed to providing safe, quality care to all who come to us and to adjusting as we may need to in order to respond to the community’s needs,” Antonios said. “While we have contingency plans in place if the numbers of patients with COVID-19 needing hospitalization continues to grow, we would much prefer that the community join us in turning the numbers around by wearing a mask any time they are within six feet of someone not a part of their immediate household.”
Neighboring Reno County is also seeing a spike in COVID-19 patients.
On Tuesday, health officials in Reno County asked residents for “additional patience and diligence” as the healthcare systems are seeing their highest number of COVID-19 patients, according to the news release from the Hutchinson Clinic and Hutchinson Regional Medical Center.
“We are all exhausted from dealing with the virus and its repercussions, but we have to lean in once again to lower the infection rates,” the release says, adding: “nothing but careful attention to the ways we behave will bring (the numbers) down.”
The release asked people to be tested at one of the free sites even if they don’t have symptoms.
“Our testing rate of the general public is too low,” the release says.
This story was originally published October 28, 2020 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Wichita hospitals hit record COVID-19 patients; still room for more patients."