We are very close to beginning year three of the COVID-19 pandemic. This week, finally, the number of cases here in Odessa is following the trend of the rest of the nation, and the Omicron variant wave seems to be subsiding. Unfortunately, the Omicron wave created numbers of hospitalized patients very similar to that of the wave in late 2020 early 2021, and with that a huge number of deaths. I know the reports said over and over that the Omicron variant was “less severe”, but I also know it sure didn’t feel like that in the hospital. While Omicron general had fewer hospitalizations per 100,000 people, it was so much more contagious than the previous variants, that many more people contracted COVID than ever before. That meant at the hospital level the result was the same, far more patients needing hospitalization than there were beds.
Before COVID I cannot remember ever sending a patient home from the Emergency Room (ER) on oxygen if that was new for them. But that has changed in the last 2 years, to the point where it’s now almost routine to send people home from the ER on oxygen—not just here, but in every hospital in the US. The lack of beds made us only hospitalize the sickest of the sick. I know of patients that needed a hospital bed and weren’t just sent to another hospital in a nearby city but were sent states away. I have heard of people from this area being sent to hospital beds in Arizona and Colorado. I know at Odessa Regional Medical Center (ORMC) we were called by hospitals in New Mexico and Oklahoma and from cities in Texas as far away as Houston and Brownsville on a regular basis as they were trying to find an ICU bed for one of their patients. I am quite sure Medical Center Hospital (MCH) received very similar calls. We had such issues finding beds for patients that there were many, many days in the last couple of months where we had nearly as many people waiting in the ER for beds in the ICU and COVID units of the hospital as we had ED rooms. And because of that, we were seeing other people in hallways and corners, literally anywhere we could find the space to tuck a patient, and many of those people were also very sick with things like heart attacks, strokes, and new onset seizures. Again, we were not unique in that. A friend of mine who works in a hospital on the East Coast told me they were holding several pediatric patients with COVID in their ED for more than 3 weeks before they were finally able to find pediatric ICU beds for those little ones.
All through these waves of COVID over the last two years, the doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, radiology technicians, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, social workers, case managers, surgical technicians , certified nurses’ assistants, clerical folks, infection preventionists, human resources folks, dieticians, housekeepers, janitors, floor techs, dietary services staff, maintenance workers, admissions staff, the financial staff, supply staff, security staff, and so many more folks that are absolutely vital to keep a hospital running showed up every day and continue to do so as we are going into year three of this awful pandemic. They continue to show up and hold hands, give hugs, comfort those who are in pain and far too often are dying. They do the many steps required to ensure that this disease is not transmitted to themselves, their loved ones, or most importantly, other patients. The burden on healthcare workers during this pandemic has been immense. It is often equated to conditions found by healthcare workers in war zones. That burden is taking a huge toll on healthcare. In 2020 alone, 500,000 healthcare workers left the profession. Preliminary data is showing 2021 was worse. I know every person I work with will carry permanent scars from the things they have experienced as healthcare workers over the past 2 years. To add to the burden, violence against healthcare workers is at an all-time high. Before the pandemic, nurses were 5 times more likely to be assaulted on the job than any other profession, and it’s gotten worse since the pandemic began. The reasons are many, but it is one more thing that is taking its toll on healthcare workers.
All of this and more is why I am so grateful that the Odessa Chamber of Commerce decided their annual Citizen of the Year Award needed to go to many individuals rather than just one. They named the staff of MCH and ORMC as their Citizens of the Year for the work they have done to support this community during the pandemic. I am so honored to be one of those Citizens, but more so, I am beyond grateful that the Chamber of Commerce is recognizing the people on the front lines in such a meaningful way. The people I work with at ORMC and my colleagues at MCH are such amazing heroes. I am so proud that we live in a community that realizes how extraordinary these people are, how much they have sacrificed over the last two years, and how much more they will likely have to give before this pandemic is finally over.
This week, as you encounter any of the amazing people who work at MCH or ORMC, please join the Chamber of Commerce and remind them how special they are.
