Ascension Via Christi says oxygen therapy is keeping COVID patients off ventilators

Ascension Via Christi health officials say their oxygen therapy treatments are keeping more COVID-19 patients off of mechanical ventilators.

Ascension has invested heavily in nasal cannulae, devices that deliver supplemental oxygen or increased airflow through lightweight tubes placed in the nostrils of patients who are struggling to breathe.

Jeff Suderman, a registered respiratory therapist and 40-year Via Christi veteran, said the heated high-flow oxygen therapy favored by the hospital is less intrusive than other common oxygen therapy methods.

“Instead of giving oxygen through a mask where it’s very claustrophobic — you can’t talk very well and you can’t eat — now we have these nasal cannulae that just goes in their nose, and now they can go about life much more comfortably,” Suderman said.

“If we can make you more comfortable, your work of breathing goes down, you use less oxygen and you hopefully feel a little better.”

Suderman said Ascension has 90 heated high-flow nasal cannulae units between its three Wichita hospitals, including 20 they ordered this month to meet rising demand. He said units cost roughly $5,000 apiece.

Ascension started using the devices pre-COVID, about five years ago, as a treatment for patients suffering from low blood oxygen levels.

The nasal cannulae units can deliver gas of between 21% and 100% oxygen content at a rate of 5 to 40 liters per minute.

Suderman said Ascension’s COVID-19 treatment strategy has evolved since the early days of the pandemic.

“At the very beginning, we were being a little more aggressive with intubating our patients if they had COVID, because in a way, that’s what we were hearing from across the country was happening,” Suderman said.

“We have changed the way we’re treating people, mainly because we are seeing better outcomes the way we individualize our care. Now, we’re finding that we’re using more heated high-flow and then we’re going straight to intubation if that patient needs to be intubated and placed on a ventilator.”

He said that although ventilators can be lifesaving for virus patients with acute symptoms, they are also taxing on the body.

“If you can keep people off the ventilator, every time you do something more invasive, there’s much more harm potential for the patient, and there’s a bigger chance that they’re going to get worse,” Suderman said.

On Monday, Ascension spokesperson Roz Hutchinson told The Eagle that St. Joseph and St. Francis had a combined 93 COVID-19 patients, 20 of whom were in ICU beds. Hutchinson said Tuesday afternoon that just four COVID-positive patients were on ventilators, as were several patients who last tested positive for the virus 10 or more days ago.

She said roughly 90% of Ascension’s COVID-19 patients have not been vaccinated against the virus. No vaccinated patients with breakthrough cases have had to go on ventilators, she said.

Wesley Medical Center spokesperson Dave Stewart said the hospital is also using oxygen therapy methods in an effort to minimize ventilation. He said he believes Wesley utilizes heated high-flow oxygen therapy, but he could not confirm so conclusively.

“Everyone’s looking for alternative methods to keep people off ventilators because we know that’s not always the best option,” Stewart said.

This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 9:39 AM.