Stanislaus hospitals are overrun. County reports 39 coronavirus deaths in five days.
Deanna Frank, a veteran intensive care nurse, felt like she was beaten by the virus Tuesday at Memorial Medical Center.
Doctors and nurses responded to multiple “code blues” trying to save COVID-19 patients in the overloaded ICU, she said. After personnel rushed into a room, a nurse would give CPR and a respiratory therapist would work to keep the patient’s airway open.
“Many of them seem to get better then all of a sudden they crash,” Frank said of the COVID-19 patients filling ICU beds.
Seven COVID-positive patients in intensive care died in 48 hours this past week, the nurse said. When staff tried to order more body bags from central supply, a small package with thin plastic sheets and straps was sent, with a sticky note: “This is all we have left.”
Frank later posted about the traumatic day at the Modesto hospital. She said Facebook took down her post maybe because of her sarcastic reference to the so-called “fake virus” or maybe the body bags.
“This is the worst we have seen so far,” Frank said. “Our first wave was bad but not nearly this bad.”
Sutter Health of Sacramento, which is affiliated with Memorial, said the hospital has seen a recent surge in COVID-19 patients the same as other hospitals. Sutter would not confirm if seven COVID patients had died in a two-day period at Memorial.
The nonprofit health system said it’s adhering to the normal state standards for nurse-to-patient ratios as staffing demands increase with the pandemic.
Hospitals in Stanislaus County and other places in the San Joaquin Valley are overwhelmed by patients with life-threatening cases of COVID-19. And the troubles are worse than the deadly surge that shook the county last summer.
Of the 483 patients in the county’s five hospitals Thursday, 331, or about 70 percent, were stricken with COVID-19. On Friday, all but five of the 121 adult ICU beds in the county were full and a high mark of 352 COVID patients were in local hospitals, according to the county’s dashboard.
The county has recorded 81 coronavirus deaths thus far in December. The online dashboard reported 39 deaths from Tuesday to Saturday.
Bobby Moser, a county Health Services Agency spokesman, said starting Monday some patients from Stanislaus County were sent to the old Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, which is set up as an alternative care center for COVID and non-COVID patients from the broader region. At least two patients have been transferred thus far.
County officials expect local hospitals will need to send patients to Sleep Train or other alternative sites as hundreds of coronavirus-stricken residents seek care at already crowded hospitals this month.
“Right now, our local hospitals are very overwhelmed,” Moser said. “They are very shorthanded.”
Some hospitals are asking the California Department of Public Health for additional nurses, Moser said, though he didn’t have the specifics of the requests.
The worst may be yet to come. Over a seven-day period, Stanislaus County surpassed 3,000 new coronavirus cases, meaning a swell of additional patients will seek care at hospitals in two weeks. Moser said the county’s rate of hospitalization for COVID-19 cases is 6% or 7%, about half the state’s reported rate of 12%.
Public health officials are afraid of explosive transmission around Christmas if residents don’t follow guidance to hold small, and safe, holiday gatherings or skip them.
COVID-related admissions are projected to push hospitals to overall bed capacity by the end of the month.
Moser said the first option for overflow patients will be the Sacramento center, with a maximum 200 beds for surrounding counties. The center is set up for non-COVID patients and COVID patients who must be able to walk.
There’s a real chance the county will have to use a 60-bed alternative site at the former county hospital on Scenic Drive. Most likely for moderately sick patients, the old hospital wing will need additional equipment and staffing, county officials say.
A spokesperson for Doctors Medical Center said Friday: “Given the recent increase in hospitalizations, we are closely monitoring the census in our hospitals and will make rapid adjustments as needed. As always, we urge our community to proactively protect themselves and others by wearing a mask in public, using good hand hygiene and practicing social distancing.”
Modesto hospital sees wave of patients
Memorial, a 423-bed hospital at Briggsmore Avenue and Coffee Road, has cared for as many as 117 COVID patients at once during the recent surge.
Dr. Don Zweig, an assistant director of the emergency department, said he often sees people infected with the virus arrive in poor condition. “With the extremely ill patients, most of them are having a lot of trouble breathing to the point they need support with high-flow oxygen,” Zweig said.
They include older people but also adults in their 40s, 50s and early 60s. “The idea that it’s only affecting people over 65 is pretty crazy,” the physician said.
He added that staff in the ICUs and regular hospital units are stressed because they are overloaded.
Doctors are keeping their fingers crossed that seasonal flu won’t make much of a showing this winter. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the flu activity was light in Southern Hemisphere countries like Australia, which are watched by infectious disease experts annually to get a read on what’s coming.
Local hospital workers stressed that masks and social distancing will stop COVID-19 and influenza. They are pleading with people to exercise precautions daily.
Nurses dealing with prolonged stress
Frank said hospitals are dealing with staff burn-out and prolonged stress after nine months of battling the coronavirus. Because of the shortage of staff, vacations are taken away and that can lead to employees taking stress leave.
The signs of toxic stress include irritability and sleep problems. “You wake up recounting the day’s events. Could I have done this better? Your mind is going a mile a minute,” Frank said.
Nurses start yelling or arguing with people they have worked with for years, she added. But things are usually smoothed over before long.
A Memorial nurse since 1992, Frank was able to take a two-week vacation when COVID admissions dropped in September after the state imposed disease controls on counties. “Prior to that, I was extremely burned out and close to taking stress leave myself,” she said.
Frank and other nurses have spoken out or vented on social media, so the public understands how the virus is impacting the health care system. Moser, the county spokesman, said the arrival of vaccine this month for some hospital workers is a glimmer of hope but it’s not enough to slow the wave of patients inundating hospitals.
“I would tell people to know this virus is real even if they don’t see it,” Frank said. “Please respect others and understand the health care workers are being overwhelmed.”
This story was originally published December 19, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
