BOISE, Idaho — For weeks the community has watched and wondered if hospitals would reach full capacity.
As coronavirus cases in the Treasure Valley continue to rise, area hospitals are very busy balancing treatment for COVID and non-COVID patients.
Take the ICU situation at St. Luke's on Monday night for example.
“We did fill up our capacity for available beds with the available staffing, and subsequently we kept people who needed an intensive care bed in the emergency department overnight until the morning when we were able to transfer some patients out and then move those patients from the ER up to the ICUs,” said Dr. Bart Hill, chief quality officer and associate chief medical officer for St. Luke’s Health System.
Hill told KTVB that the hospital was very busy Monday but made a calculated decision based on timing and resources.
“It’s not a good time to try and discharge patients or transfer them from unit to unit so we typically try and do that during the daylight hours,” he said.
The quality of care for patients across the board was never in question. According to Hill, the ability of the emergency department to provide critical care services was not an issue, and the situation on Monday was not a normal or usual occurrence, but it is something they have dealt with historically when they have capacity issues, especially at night.
One note from Monday night, the St. Luke’s hospital in Nampa did have available beds but there wasn’t staffing at the time to accommodate transfers, for example, from Meridian to Nampa.
Despite the challenging times, St. Luke's officials maintain are still able to accommodate emergency needs.
“We have capacity currently to manage those but it is putting a tremendous strain on the staff,” Hill said.
For months frontline healthcare workers have worked long and difficult days. Hill said staffing and system-wise they are stressed but managing.
“We are not doing normal operations," he said. "People who need healthcare, but not urgently, are being delayed. The staff are working tremendously hard and it is still very difficult.”
Other area hospitals are feeling the strain too. A spokesperson from West Valley Medical Center tells KTVB that they are busy but managing across the board. West Valley is still doing procedures and has beds open, but like St. Luke’s, is monitoring staffing.
A great resource for the community was recently put out by West Valley Medical Center, a 24/7 phone line with a live nurse there to answer medical questions and give guidance specifically on COVID-19. People can call 208-455-3995 or visit their online resource here.
The nurse can give guidance about going into a medical provider or not - based on symptoms.
West Valley told KTVB its aim is cutting down on the number of people heading into medical centers.
Hospitals have seen issues because of the number of staff unable to work due to COVID-related issues. St. Luke’s continues to see many employees out system-wide. Last week it was about 80 employees a day, while this week it’s about 120.
“It’s higher this week than last week and we were hoping that it would start flattening and turn around and head the different direction,” Hill said.
St. Luke’s wants to make it very clear, their hospitals in the valley are not currently full and they are able to provide emergency care. They are however very busy, and things change hour to hour.
“Our system and out staff are stressed but we are managing, and I think people are tremendously proud of the work they are doing and the importance that it has for each individual patient and for our community,” Hill said.
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