JACKSON COUNTY, Ore. —The state is reporting a new record, 2,387 new Covid cases Thursday. Jackson County is leading the way again, with 416.
The 2nd and 3rd most cases Thursday were in Multnomah and Lane Counties. They each had 210, nearly half our amount. Health officials are begging the public to take Covid-19 seriously.
“This is the worst condition our hospitals have seen likely ever,” said Peter Weber, Josephine County Public Health Officer.
Normal hospital operations may soon no longer be a reality.
“Imagine you come to the ED, this could be for a heart attack, a stroke, any sort of condition with an injury, then you come into a waiting room with 40 plus people and, you wait for 6 hours, then you get pulled in the back of the Emergency Department, you’re put in a hallway bed and you often stay there for 24 hours, with 10, 20, 30, 40 people waiting for beds,” said Amanda Kotler, RN, Asante Vice President Nursing.
Hospitals are overwhelmed right now in Jackson and Josephine Counties, more so here, than anywhere else in the state. Providence is looking at their other hospitals in Spokane and the Bay Area for more beds, and may potentially put beds in their conference rooms. Asante is also looking at all options on the table.
“If you come to our hospital for any reason, we might not be able to help you, our staff is stretched and we have limited resources,” said Kotler.
Asante has already had to deny over 200 patients for regional referral because it’s at capacity. Over 350 surgeries have been canceled, for people that could be in pain or need life-saving treatment.
“Imagine that you’re a patient sitting with your physician and the physician says to you, you have cancer or heart disease, or stroke symptoms and you need surgery. In a world before you would have gotten that surgery in days, now you’re being told we can’t do that,” said Jamie Grebosky, MD Asante Chief Medical Officer.
Medical staff is also being pushed to the brink.
“Our staff are exhausted, they’re working extra shifts to cover beds, going well beyond the patient to nurse ratios because they are forced to do so,” said Dr. Jason Kuhl, Providence Medford Medical Center, Chief Medical Officer.
Providence Medford Medical Center says its Emergency Department is bursting at the seams. For a hospital, its size is breaking records.
“Our Covid numbers here at Providence are larger than what we’re seeing up in our largest hospital in Portland up at St. Vincent’s,” said Chris Pizzi, Providence Medford Medical Center, Chief Executive Officer.
On July 6th, there were 12 Covid-19 patients hospitalized in Jackson and Josephine county. Thursday that number is 149.
“Jackson County houses about 10% of the state’s population, and we have about 30% of the Covid positive individuals in the county,” said Dr. Kuhl.
The vast majority of those hospitalized are unvaccinated and have the highly contagious Delta variant. It’s far more transmissible than previous Covid strains, that shut down much of the country last year.
In Jackson County, 48% of the total population is vaccinated, in Josephine County, the number is less than 43%
“We’re doing everything we can to respond to this increase in cases, but it’s really up to the community as to how it’s going to end,” said Dr. Jim Shames, Jackson County Health Officer.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown is implementing a statewide indoor mask mandate beginning Friday. In the meantime, health officials urge you to come into the hospital, only for severe illness.
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