The UAB is hosting some cancer patients in nearby hotels after surgery, due to the post-holiday peak at COVID-19.
“Patients who would normally be watched at night and return home the next morning, we are using hotels near the hospital,” said UAB Hospital CEO Anthony Patterson at a news conference on Wednesday.
“This allows us to continue to meet the needs of our patients,” he said.
On Wednesday, UAB had 294 patients with COVID-19. Of these, 210 were positive with the disease. Another 84 were recovering from long-term effects of COVID, such as lung scarring and respiratory distress syndrome, involving fluid accumulation in the lungs.
Dr. Rachel Lee, an epidemiologist at UAB who treats patients with COVID-19, said the increase in hospitalizations after the Christmas holiday included an increase in the number of young people battling the disease. She said the hospital has yet to see an increase in New Year holidays.
Another significant challenge that UAB faces is the treatment of patients with COVID who must be hospitalized for long periods after the disease.
“Many patients are no longer infectious, but they are still on the ventilator,” said Lee. “They are still fighting for their lives. This is the most painful thing for us. We are doing everything we can to get them home and their loved ones, and it is incredibly difficult. “
Patterson, the CEO, said the hospital is prioritizing life-saving elective procedures, such as cancer treatments, rather than surgery such as knee replacement.
The UAB is hosting some of its cancer patients after the surgery, reusing the hospital spaces.
“What we have to pay close attention to is the available capacity of beds that we have so that these patients have a place to go after they go (to the operating room), said Patterson.
As the UAB has little space, some cancer surgeries are being postponed for several days.
COVID’s admissions to UAB, almost double last month, are also causing delays in transfers to the state’s rural hospital.
The UAB typically serves as a resource for hospitals throughout Alabama, as the only Level 1 trauma center in the state. It offers treatments that patients cannot receive elsewhere, such as transplants and care for severe trauma following car accidents.
“During the pandemic, we are taken to the point where it certainly slows down and, in some cases, may require us to wait a day or two before we can actually accept the transfer of a patient who needs to come to UAB,” said Patterson.
Speaking to the COVID-19 patients at UAB who spread the disease to grandparents and other family members, Dr. Lee overhears many saying that they feel guilt and stigma.
She encouraged the Alabamians to take precautions. “Is it really worth eating in restaurants, inside, when we know that the hospital is struggling and rationing care?”