On the same day that the FDA granted full approval for the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine, local health officials reported alarming numbers of local hospitalizations as well as a growing crisis in Reeves County.
During a Monday Zoom news conference with health officials, Medical Center Hospital CEO Russell Tippin continued to urge health precautions and the need to get a vaccine as MCH hit a higher number of COVID-related patients than ever with 106 over the weekend. Even during the height of the surge in January, Tippin said, MCH didn’t reach that number.
“Not much upside to our conversation today,” Tippin said. “In January we hit 103 or 102 and over the weekend we were at 106… ; very concerning for us.”
By Monday the number dropped to 96 with 37 in ICU and 35 of those on ventilators. Twenty-nine are not vaccinated. Tippin said it is heartbreaking for patients going on a ventilator to ask for a vaccine.
The MCH patients are ages 13 to 84 and seven have died since Friday. “Choose to have a better chance of survival,” he said of getting the vaccine.
Tippin also talked about upcoming events that draw large crowds and said some could be super spreader events. “The young kids scare me…. They will touch a hand rail or a ball or the seat you are sitting on…”
MCH is pushed to the limit in terms of space and staffing as is Odessa Regional Medical Center.
Dr. Rohith Saravanan, regional chief medical officer at ORMC, said now is not the time to discuss having large events such as the Permian Basin Fair as COVID strains the health care system and those who work in it. “We are past the previous peak,” Saravanan said.
Saravanan also discussed how desperation and pain drives family members and patients to seek treatments that are not medically approved. He again urged Odessans to trust the science and not to ask for treatments that are not approved and that in some cases are medications that are for animals not humans.
“If they are for animals that means they are usually not FDA or CDC approved,” Tippin added.
MCH Chief Nursing Officer Christin Timmons described a hospital staff its their limit and short-staffed. She said more nurses and respiratory therapists are expected from the state, but that the staff is stretched thin.
So thin that Tippin said tents for an overflow of patients are not an option as MCH does not have the staffing for the tents.
Tippin also discussed the growing crisis in Reeves County where a federal camp for immigrant children is overwhelming the hospital. “Which in turn overwhelms all of us,” he said adding that COVID, chicken pox and pregnant young girls are straining the system. “They have a disaster on their hands,” he said.
That disaster will also affect Ector County as patients are moved around when space runs out. “The federal problem has now become a local problem,” Tippin said.
ORMC CEO Stacey Brown said ORMC had 26 COVID patients as of Monday with eight in ICU and seven on ventilators. “Well over 90 percent are not vaccinated.”
Brown said another alarming statistic is that about 45 percent of the patients are 50 or younger.
Both Brown and Timmons asked for community support for hospital staffers. “Write a note or have a child draw a picture,” Timmons suggested. “It means a lot to know someone is thinking of them.”
Other items of note:
>> ORMC’s new visitor policy also went into effect on Monday.
>> Tippin said not only is the COVID crisis straining the hospital, but it has also overrun the Urgent Care Centers.
>> Saravanan said ORMC is low on testing supplies and can no longer run the tests in house and will have to send them out.
>> The Regeneron Infusion Center continues on the MCH campus at One Doctors Place, Suite 700 (500 N. Washington). Regeneron is two medications – casirivimab and imdevimab – that make up this particular monoclonal antibody therapy.
Monoclonal antibodies are lab-made proteins that mimic the immune system’s ability to fight off harmful pathogens, such as viruses. This therapy is for patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 and are at risk for hospitalization. Not only can it help prevent hospitalization, but it can also ease the symptoms of COVID-19 sooner.
A provider can make a referral for patients to receive the monoclonal antibody therapy. The provider will need to confirm their patient is a candidate and would benefit from the therapy, then call (432) 640-2022 to make the appointment. There is also an email to send appropriate documentation at [email protected].
The infusion center will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The therapy is free, and the entire process takes about 90 minutes.
