After diverting patients, Mount Nittany Health warns of more ‘extraordinary measures’ due to COVID
Mount Nittany Medical Center reached a crossroads Friday as the hospital teemed with nearly five dozen patients diagnosed with the coronavirus and warned of possible service cuts.
The only hospital in Centre County turned away emergency department patients Thursday evening into Friday morning, and cautioned that additional “extraordinary measures” can be expected.
“Things are as challenging as they have ever been during the past 21 months of the COVID-19 pandemic,” chief medical officer Dr. Upendra Thaker said in a statement. “Caring for COVID patients is like operating a hospital within a hospital. It takes extraordinary resources to operate at this capacity.”
The hospital’s dashboard reported 59 patients being treated for the disease, ranging in age from 27 to 95 years old. About 70% of patients are not vaccinated and 10 are in the ICU.
The 260-bed hospital has also been unable to discharge some patients to long-term care facilities, forcing them to stay in the hospital for longer than they would if there weren’t a pandemic.
“As long as the high level of community transmission continues, we will have to take steps to address the issues that arise from the high volume of patients who are also requiring a high level of care,” Thaker said. “It’s not often hospitals have to take extreme measures like diverting ambulances, but this strain is a direct result of what’s happening in the community and the region. We will have to make operational adjustments to support continuity of care to the best of our ability.”
The health system was straightforward in addressing some of the consequences.
All elective surgeries requiring at least one overnight inpatient stay may be postponed through next week. Those seeking care at the emergency department should also brace for “significantly longer wait times.” Visitation remains restricted.
“We understand that community members are frustrated with surgeries being postponed, having significantly longer waits for emergency services, and not being able to visit loved ones,” Mount Nittany Health chief nursing officer Dr. Tiffany Cabibbo said in a statement. “We wish this were not the case.“
A regional emergency medical service council wrote in a Facebook post Thursday night that ambulances were told to seek the next closest emergency department, which are dozens of miles away and outside Centre County.
“As our community continues to weather the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the frontline caregivers at Mount Nittany Medical Center remain committed to providing high-quality care to all of our patients,” Mount Nittany Medical Center chapter president of SEIU Healthcare Denelle Korin said in a statement. “We continue to collaborate with our hospital management teams and maintain open communication daily. We are making decisions together that ensure the health and safety of all of our patients, as well as the caregivers who provide care. That’s our highest priority.”
Health system administrators for months have offered warnings about the effect of unceasing increases in the amount of patients who require care.
The hospital cared for an average of 34 COVID-19 patients daily since mid-September, the longest sustained period of a high census ever.
“We are so grateful to and proud of our clinical staff who have worked under extraordinary circumstances for the past 21 months,” Cabibbo said. “Please know they are doing everything they can to continue to care for patients.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2021 at 3:23 PM.