MCHS President and CEO Russell Tippin announced Tuesday that the hospital is asking Ector County for $7 million to purchase more ventilators and hire additional staff as local COVID-19 cases soared to levels not seen since January.
Ector County commissioners are tentatively scheduled to consider the request at their Aug. 24 meeting. If approved, the money would come from American Rescue Plan funds already distributed to the county.
“Today (Tuesday morning), we had 65 COVID-19 patients — the most we’ve had since January,” Tippin said during a Tuesday news conference at the hospital. “We added 11 patients overnight. We’re facing a severe nursing shortage.
“That’s the reality of where we are. We’ve reached the danger point now.”
As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, MCHS reported a total of 65 COVID patients, including 28 in critical care and 22 of those on ventilators. Twenty-five of the 28 critical care patients had not been vaccinated. The remaining 37 COVID patients were listed as not being in critical condition; 29 of those patients have not been vaccinated.
The increase in COVID patients last week forced MCH to open another unit to handle the overflow of COVID patients, Tippin said. Even that isn’t enough to handle the current patient load.
“We’re stretched today,” Tippin said. “We have two patients ‘stacked’ waiting to be placed in critical care.”
The Ector County Hospital District Board of Directors called an emergency session on Tuesday and voted to immediately purchase an additional 40 ventilators for approximately $1.5 million. The new ventilators are expected to arrive within two to five days, Tippin said.
The hospital board is hoping MCHS will be reimbursed for the ventilator purchases if the county approves the $7 million request.
The county this year was awarded a total of $32.5 million from the American Rescue Plan, with half the amount being given this year, and the second half arriving in 2022.
MCHS currently has 40 ventilators, but 34 are presently in use by patients, Tippin said. Many of those ventilators are nearing their expiration because they’ve been used so much.
Staffing is also a critical issue facing MCHS.
The hospital system needs about $5 million to hire additional critical care nurses, Tippin said. The hospital, which had five nurses quit this week, is short a total of 74 critical care nurses.
“They’re just mentally exhausted,” said Tippin, noting hospitals throughout the country are experiencing similar shortages as nurses, weary from COVID, are quitting in droves.
On Tuesday, MCHS also had 25 nurses out on sick leave due to COVID, Tippin said.
The hospital board on Tuesday also voted to give cash incentives to retain MCHS nurses. Based on experience and tenure, nurses will receive $15,000 to $20,000 bonus incentives. The incentives are expected to cost the hospital about $1.2 million total.
It’s not just the increase in local COVID cases that are straining resources at MCHS, Tippin said. Many smaller hospitals in the 17-county region nearest Ector County don’t have the space or resources to care for their COVID patients and are asking MCHS for help.
“Everyone in our region is holding 5, 6, 7 patients; as soon as we free beds, they are going to fill back up again,” Tippin said.
The latest spike is “frightening” because a majority of Ector County residents continue to refuse to get vaccinated, or wear face coverings, Tippin said. About 40 percent of county residents have been vaccinated — half of what health officials say is needed to stop the spread of COVID.
“I don’t like wearing a mask; I get it,” Tippin said. “Nobody likes to be told what to do.
“Nobody is saying getting vaccinated will keep you from getting COVID. But it will give you, and your loved ones a better chance of surviving.”
