The number of COVID patients at The University of Kansas Health System continues to climb today. 64 with the active virus are being treated, up from 61 yesterday. Only three of those patients, five percent, are vaccinated.19 COVID patients are in the ICU, the same as yesterday. 14 are on ventilators, up from 13 yesterday. 19 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID but are out of the acute infection phase, down from 23 yesterday. That’s a total of 83 patients, down from 84 yesterday.
Today’s guests on Open Mics with Dr. Stites were Dr. Chris Brown, a hospitalist at the health system, Grant Ogden, a respiratory therapist, and Caitlin Beatty, a nurse in a COVID intensive care unit. They joined Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer and Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, to discuss the impact of omicron and delta on healthcare workers.
Dr. Stites revealed startling information showing omicron has become the dominant strain of COVID in a short amount of time, about 73% of all new cases. He says across the world we have been way behind the speed of omicron. It’s too soon to say what effect omicron will have on hospitalizations, as the current surge is mostly from delta. He realizes masks are not popular and government officials are reluctant to make us wear them again, but that, combined with more vaccinations and boosters, remains our best way out of the pandemic. He says we know how to bend the curve, “Don’t let it bend us.”
Dr. Hawkinson thinks it was a good idea for the KU/Colorado basketball game to be canceled as a crowd that large is likely to spread COVID to others when they go home for Christmas. He believes the current surge isn’t likely to peak until mid to late January. Controlling the pandemic is a matter of behavior, and he says early data shows the vaccines are effective even against omicron. He thinks it’s more than likely we’ll all be infected at some point, but those who are vaccinated stand the best chance of a mild case and faster recovery.
Dr. Brown says the number of hospitalized COVID patients has tripled just since Thanksgiving. It’s definitely changed the way he and the other hospitalists do their jobs. He’s finding he’s managing not only patients but their families, many of whom may have caught the same disease. He says the whole pandemic has worn him and his colleagues down.
Grant Ogden feels the same way. His breathing treatments are often the only difference between life and death for some patients. It’s very stressful and there’s no end in sight, which he says has led to a lot of respiratory therapists leaving healthcare altogether. That puts even more strain on those still caring for patients. He says we all make choices and sometimes those choices lead you to the hospital. If those choices include not wearing a mask or getting vaccinated, you’re putting yourself and others at risk.
Caitlin says no amount of nursing education and training can prepare you for walking into a COVID ICU and seeing patients sicker than any they’ve ever seen. One of the hardest parts of her job is having to explain to families who believed COVID was a hoax just how sick their loved one is. She says it’s very hard and frustrating to see people who don’t take the pandemic seriously and even spread false information. She doesn’t think anyone in the healthcare world signed up for this and says stress has caused a lot of nurses to leave the profession.
Wednesday, December 29 at 8:00 a.m. is the next live episode of Open Mics With Dr. Stites. We’ll show you how the health system lab is testing for the COVID variants. We’ll also show why omicron is a special challenge for many seniors, especially those in nursing homes. Until then, we will present encore episodes of the Morning Medical Update at 8:00 a.m.
NOTE: Journalists should rejoin the Morning Medical Update at 8am as doctors are growing too busy again for individual interview requests. Please bring questions or send to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu until further notice. Thanks for all you do and helping to keep the community safe with your reporting.
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