As the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations continues to increase, the Mohawk Valley Health System now recognizes that there are concerns about capacity, but the biggest problem they face is a shortage of staff.
The chief medical officer, Dr. Kent Hall, held a press conference on Thursday.
There are currently 211 patients admitted to the MVHS.
“We are rapidly approaching the capacity of the Mohawk Valley Health System,” said Hall. “We implemented the reinforcement plan that we developed in the spring and that allowed us to serve many more patients than we normally would have at this time of year.”
From Monday, non-essential procedures will be put on hold.
“Unless it’s life threatening or limb threatening, or something related to a cancer diagnosis or something, we’re not really moving forward with these procedures at the moment,” said Hall.
Although the MVHS has not reached capacity, the lack of personnel is making things more difficult.
“There was already a pre-existing shortage of nurses, a shortage of 1.2 million across the country,” said Hall. “Add to that, nurses are human beings who are going to get sick. We have several members of our team currently working with COVID and therefore we are unable to work. “
Hall says the MVHS is still able to care for patients, but said his team is tired.
A nurse who works at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center spoke to NEWSChannel2 about her concerns.
“We have rooms and beds available at the hospital, but there is absolutely no staff to look after them,” said Lily Werenczak. It would be 1 nurse for 5 patients, so they are almost tripling what would be considered safe by many standards. “
She says she wants hospital leaders to be more aggressive in their search and recruitment for more nurses and staff members.
“Patients are suffering immensely, it brings tears to my eyes, it brings tears to the eyes of other nurses and health professionals, and they are not able to provide the care that patients deserve,” said Werenczak.
Hall says they are doing what they can. He says they are working with national recruitment firms to try to recruit more employees. He also says that this is why they are interrupting elective procedures.
“We estimate that in doing so, we are likely to release about 28 to 30 nurses and about 12 to 15 clinical assistants who can help nurses on the floor,” said Hall.