By SALINA POST
ABILENE - Like many hospitals around the country, Memorial Hospital in Abilene is feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the Emergency Department, for instance, wait times for some patients may be longer because of the greater number of patients who seek treatment from the department. Nonetheless, each patient remains important to the Emergency Department staff.
“With the ER being busier, wait times will unfortunately increase. There are only so many rooms and so many staff to take care of the patients. Each patient is important, but those who are sicker or with more time critical problems will take precedent over those patients with more minor complaints,” said Dr. Brian Holmes.
Emergency departments across the state, indeed, throughout the country are struggling with the increased load of COVID-19 patients, making it difficult, if not impossible to transfer patients in need of more intensive care.
"Recently we have had to transfer several patients out of state who required intensive care unit care because we could not find an ICU bed in Kansas,” Holmes said.
Additionally, the length of time of COVID-19 patients' hopsital stays also are putting a strain on the healthcare system.
"COVID patients tend to stay longer in the hospital, both in the ICU and in the regular inpatient rooms, as they tend to be sicker and require longer recoveries. This has led to a shortage of ICU beds across Kansas and many other states as well in the U.S.," Holmes said. "Dealing with the increased volume of COVID patients has strained our ability to take care of other more common problems like heart attacks, strokes, trauma, and even diseases like pneumonia."
To help lessen the number of COVID-19 patients swamping hospitals, Memorial Health System physicians, including those who work in Memorial Hospital, urge all eligible to get vaccinated.