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NEWS
Medical centers have been concerned about staffing since the COVID Delta variant began causing caseload spikes this summer.
PHOTO: OLGA KONONENKO
UC Health Chief: Greater Cincinnati Faces Healthcare Staffing Shortage Due to COVID-19 Burnout
Greater Cincinnati hospitals are feeling the stress from so many COVID-19 patients — especially as more and more healthcare professionals opt for less intense careers.
During a Sept. 22 briefing with Hamilton County Commissioner Denise Driehaus and Hamilton County Public Health Commissioner Greg Kesterman, Dr. Richard Lofgren — UC Health’s president and CEO — said that the region’s healthcare facilities have been overwhelmed by the current COVID-19 surge. According to the panelists, one in five people using hospital beds and one in three people in intensive care units throughout the region are COVID-19 patients.
“This is above and beyond some of the normal demands on our healthcare system,” Lofgren said.
Lofgren said that in Southwestern Ohio, there are typically about 2,400 hospital beds available on a regular basis. In December, about 800 of those were taken by the peak surge of COVID19 patients, pushing healthcare systems to the brink.
Today, Lofgren said, COVID-19 patients are using about 600 beds — a number that at first seems marginally better than last winter’s caseload but actually gives way to other problems. Concerns in December largely centered around having enough capacity,
NEWS Gov. Mike DeWine Announces Vaccine Incentive Program for Ohioans Ages 12-25
BY MAGGY MCDONEL AND ALLISON BABKA
In a Sept. 23 COVID-19 briefing, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced a new incentive program — this one encouraging younger Ohioans to become vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The Vax-2-School program offers five $100,000 and 50 $10,000 scholarships to vaccinated residents ages 12-25 who enter the drawing. These scholarships can be used for college, job training or other education.
DeWine said the rate of COVID-19 vaccination is much lower for the younger demographics than for older adults. As of press time, only 17% of Ohioans age 19 and younger had gotten one dose of an authorized vaccine and just 15% had been fully vaccinated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), those who are considered fully vaccinated are two weeks past their second dose of a two-shot series (Pfizer or Moderna) or two weeks past a one-shot vaccine (Johnson & Johnson).
The governor said he hoped the Vax2-School program would encourage those who are unvaccinated to get the vaccine sooner rather than later.
“This age group has the most room to grow when it comes to getting vaccinated. With the Delta variant, we are concerned they will miss class and other learning opportunities if they get or are exposed to COVID-19,” DeWine said.
DeWine will announce Vax-2-School winners beginning the week of Oct. 11. Full details, including how teens can register, were not available as of press time.
Vax-2-School is not Ohio’s first attempt to incentivize vaccination. In May, DeWine established the Vax-aMillion program with the Ohio Lottery. All Ohioans who had received at least one vaccination dose were eligible to enter the program, which rewarded five adult winners with $1 million each. In addition, five vaccinated Ohio residents ages 12-17 each won a full-ride, fouryear scholarship to any public college or university within the state.
Three individuals from Greater Cincinnati were among the winners.
A study from Harvard University found that Vax-a-Million enticed more than 100,000 additional Ohioans to get vaccinated at a cost of about $49 per new Ohioan vaccinated.
DeWine’s Sept. 23 announcement of the new Vax-2-School program came as Ohio sustains a months-long spike of COVID-19 cases, primarily among the unvaccinated, according to data reported by the Ohio Department of Health. The recent surge — largely attributed to the highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus — is driven by children ages 18 and younger, who, as of press time, make up about three out of every 10 infections statewide.
About 6,700 people throughout Ohio received COVID-19 vaccines on Sept. 24, according to the Ohio Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard. That’s a drop from about 7,000 on Aug. 21 and about 7,500 on July 21 but slightly higher than 6,000 on June 21 when the Delta surge began to take hold. No recent dates have come close to Ohio’s peak of almost 108,000 vaccinations on March 31, which was shortly after vaccine eligibility opened up to all population groups.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine
PHOTO: GOVERNOR.OHIO.GOV
Find COVID-19 vaccination resources and data at coronavirus.ohio.gov.
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medications and supplies to meet the demand.
But now hospitals are worried about the exodus of healthcare staff as coronavirus cases continue to rise and vaccination rates slow to a crawl in Ohio and Kentucky.
“I can tell you that the issue right now for our ability to accommodate this onslaught of demand is really staffing. We really do not have the individuals, the people, that we saw in the winter,” Lofgren said.
Healthcare leaders have been sounding the alarm about staffing since shortly after the Delta variant began causing caseload spikes this summer. Dr. Patricia Manning-Courtney, chief of staff at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, told Driehaus and Kesterman during a Sept. 1 briefing that the number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 has risen sharply, straining pediatric facilities and contributing to more cases than staff can reasonably take on.
“I really want to stress that our entire pediatric healthcare system is under stress and strain right now. By that, I mean our emergency rooms, our urgent cares, our primary care practices, our community physicians are seeing some of the highest volumes that they ever see,” Manning-Courtney said.
She added that the ever-increasing number of patients means that hospital officials have to make difficult decisions about deferring surgeries, turning away transfer patients and postponing outpatient visits. “That will mean affecting care for everyone — even those who don’t believe that COVID-19 is real.”
Lofgren said that many staff members simply have run out of fuel after being on duty essentially since March 2020.
“A number of things factor into it. Quite honestly, there are a number of healthcare providers who have, as a result, really just left the field. I think that a number of people, nurses and other staff, really stepped up and did triple overtime, really extended themselves to accommodate the surge, and as I mentioned before, they’re just exhausted,” Lofgren said. “And the ability to stretch at that point has really been taxed at a level that, personally, I’ve never seen before. So I think people need to understand that the health systems right now are overwhelmed and they are strained and really are forced to try to manage the demand.”
Lofgren said that staff in area hospitals, including UC Health facilities, have seen an increase in aggressive behavior from patients and families who don’t want to wear masks. He also said that though a small percentage of healthcare professionals have left employers that are requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, most simply are exiting the industry (UC Health is one of several regional hospital systems that requires COVID19 vaccination for employees, providers, contractors and volunteers this fall).
Driehaus said that patients with COVID-19 or other ailments should carefully consider where to go for treatment so that strain on the healthcare systems is reduced.
“I want to remind people that when you’re thinking about your healthcare, you need to utilize the right level of care so that we don’t overload our emergency rooms. So if you’ve got symptoms and they’re worsening, then you think about going to the emergency room. But up to that point, if you’ve got something that could be handled elsewhere — through an urgent care, through your primary care physician, through an FQHC (federally qualified health center) — then that is the most appropriate route for you to go so that we are not overwhelming our EDs (emergency departments),” Driehaus said.
“Not only is the demand (for care in hospitals) of COVID, but ... we need to continue to take care of critically ill people who have non-COVID conditions,” Lofgren said.
Lofgren added added a way to support healthcare staff — by not ending up as a patient in the first place.
“The best thing if you really understand and value the work that the healthcare community (does), besides giving a high five and a distant hug, is to get vaccinated,” Lofgren said. “Really, what we can do is to wear a mask, get vaccinated so that we’re preventing this disease not only for the welfare of our community but also the ability for us to take care of not only COVID patients but critical non-COVID care, as well.”
As of Sept. 22, there were 9,000 active cases of COVID-19 and a seven-day average of 363 cases a day in Hamilton County, according to figures from Kesterman. 579 people within the region are hospitalized, 167 are in the ICU and 125 are on ventilators.
For COVID-19 vaccine locations and information, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov in Ohio and kycovid19.ky.gov in Kentucky.
