COLUMBUS, Ohio — Friday, Doctors from across the state joined the state’s chief medical officer to issue an urgent message.
Dr. Andrew Thomas from the Wexner Medical Center and others said it's not so much the bed capacity or equipment that's a concern.- they're concerned about the staffing to be able to care for a surge in patients.
They said even before the pandemic, they were short-staffed. Many nurses, for example, worked overnight and picked up extra shifts. Now many are leaving due to burnout.
“We had to restrict visitation to keep other caregivers as well as other patients in the hospital safe, so people going through that experience of taking somebody through a terminal event without a lot of family support and they're the ones providing almost all the support or sometimes all the support in the ICU is difficult on individuals,” said Robert Wyllie, MD, Chief Medical Operations Officer, Cleveland Clinic.
They said the spread of the delta variant started south and is making its way north -- and what they are seeing in hospitals in other states is a warning sign.
Dr. Thomas said two weeks ago they got a call from Texas hospitals asking to fly patients here -- because they had maxed out capacity.
He said they had to decline -- and have stopped taking transfers from out of state.
“It's a very, very difficult decision to make but one we feel like we had to make at this time,” said Dr. Thomas.
Doctors say the best way to slow this surge is for more people to get vaccinated.
They said for young people who can't get vaccinated it's important to wear a mask, like in a school setting.
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