COVID-19 cases have continued to rise in Idaho, overwhelming hospitals across the state and forcing many to implement crisis standards of care. The surge in cases has put an added strain on Intermountain-owned Saltzer Health clinics in southwest Idaho and Cassia Regional Hospital in Burley.
John Kaiser, MD, Saltzer Health chief medical officer, says patients have been turning to urgent care clinics for services normally handled in hospitals. Saltzer’s Ten Mile urgent care clinic, which is open 24/7 with around-the-clock access to imaging services, has seen the biggest boost in patient numbers.
“We’re handling as much of the volume as we can,” Dr. Kaiser says. “We’ve been able to fully treat some acute conditions that would normally require hospitalization. With the hospitals being near or at capacity, it has been challenging at times to get patients placed in a hospital. We have, at times, kept the patients within our urgent care longer than usual to try to place them where they can get appropriate surgical or inpatient care. We’ve had to send some patients home and follow-up with the hospital the next day to get them the care they need.”
Dr. Kaiser says Saltzer clinics have also experienced increased volumes for testing, prompting them to designate some urgent care clinics as testing sites only. He says they’re also facing a staffing shortage as some caregivers are home sick and others have left for new jobs. Members of the Idaho National Guard have been brought in to help.
“We’re leveraging non-clinical National Guard members to help with stocking supplies and other non-clinical tasks, such as room turnover in our urgent cares,” says Matt Kaiserman, Saltzer’s chief operating officer. “We’ll have seven to nine guardsmen available to help in the coming weeks.”
“We continue to adapt as the situation changes to support our community as best we can,” Dr. Kaiser says.
Ben Smalley, Cassia Regional administrator, says his hospital has been able to avoid using crisis standards of care so far, but they’ve been extremely busy and reached capacity several times in the last six weeks.
“We’ve been joining a daily call with hospitals across the state to coordinate load leveling,” Ben says. “We’ve had other facilities able to accept transfers when we’re full, which has allowed us to remain at current ratios and keep elective procedures going. But our caregivers are tired because of constant high volumes and staffing shortages.”