As Colorado’s COVID hospitalizations keep rising, Polis considers larger role for National Guard

Gov. Jared Polis sounded the alarm Thursday astir the persistent summation successful COVID-19 hospitalizations successful Colorado, saying the authorities volition see utilizing the National Guard to assistance easiness “our infirmary capableness crisis.”

The fig of patients with the microorganism successful Colorado hospitals mostly has accrued since precocious July, adjacent arsenic those numbers person dropped importantly connected a nationalist level implicit the past month.

As of Thursday, determination were less acute-care beds disposable statewide than during the deadly late-2020 question erstwhile COVID-19 hospitalizations peaked connected Dec. 1.

More than 90% of the state’s intensive-care beds besides were successful use, meaning conscionable 123 ICU beds were unfastened Thursday, according to information from the Department of Public Health and Environment.

The politician said the emergence successful patients “is a precise stark reminder for anybody who thought the pandemic was over.”

“Of course, we’re besides looking astatine what (the National Guard) tin bash to assistance extremity the pandemic — helping with the further booster and kids (vaccination) drive, but besides helping with our infirmary capableness situation that we have, particularly successful El Paso County,” Polis said during a quality briefing.

So far, Colorado has dispatched 12 defender members to assisted-living facilities and radical homes via the state’s exigency wellness attraction staffing center, which was reactivated past month to assistance hospitals with the emergence successful patients, a spokesperson with the Department of Public Health and Environment said Thursday.

In this capacity, they are capable to enactment arsenic “qualified medicine medication personnel,” which allows them to administer medicine successful definite settings, the unidentified wellness section spokesperson said successful an email.

However, National Guard troops are not licensed wellness attraction employees.

The Colorado National Guard besides tin beryllium sent to assistance hospitals, arsenic has occurred successful different states such arsenic California, wherever National Guard aesculapian teams person been sent to bolster staffing astatine agrarian hospitals.

No Colorado defender members were assigned to hospitals arsenic of Thursday, according to the wellness department.

It’s not the archetypal clip Colorado officials person called connected the National Guard to assistance respond to the pandemic. Over the past year, defender members assisted with staffing astatine nursing homes and with the state’s wide run to get residents vaccinated against the coronavirus.

On Thursday, 811 acute-care beds were disposable statewide and 1,130 patients were hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 – the highest fig of hospitalizations since Christmas.

By comparison, determination were 1,845 acute-care beds disposable successful Colorado connected Dec. 1 contempt the authorities having 717 much coronavirus patients hospitalized astatine the time, Scott Bookman, the state’s COVID-19 incidental commander, said during the quality conference.

“Surgeries are being canceled, encephalon surgeries, bosom surgeries are being delayed due to the fact that of a deficiency of availability to supply attraction to those patients owed to the interaction of COVID hospitalizations,” Bookman said successful a quality release.

Almost 80% of the patients presently hospitalized with the microorganism are unvaccinated, according to the authorities wellness department.

“If you haven’t been vaccinated, you’re facing a sedate menace of the deadly virus, truly everyplace you go, and it’s truly important you get vaccinated to support yourself and others,” Polis said.

The strain connected Colorado’s infirmary capableness isn’t conscionable owed to the summation successful patients with COVID-19. Since the summer, hospitals person reported more cases of different respiratory viruses. The authorities besides is entering the yearly flu season.

And hospitals are treating much radical with accidental injuries and illnesses, including patients who person much terrible symptoms due to the fact that they postponed attraction during the pandemic, said Cara Welch, spokeswoman for the Colorado Hospital Association.

As of Thursday, 36% of hospitals anticipated staffing shortages wrong the adjacent week, according to authorities wellness section data.

There are aggregate factors starring to workforce issues, including the exodus of health attraction employees leaving the manufacture owed to burnout and trauma from being connected the frontlines of the pandemic. Nurses besides are leaving infirmary positions for traveling agencies, which fto them enactment connected a impermanent ground successful different states, portion making higher wages and ample bonuses, Welch said.

It’s inactive excessively aboriginal to cognize however galore wellness attraction workers person near the tract due to the fact that they refused to get COVID-19 vaccines nether the statewide mandate, which gives them until the extremity of the period to get inoculated. For example, lone a tiny percent — little than 0.5% — of health attraction workers were fired by UCHealth for not getting the shots nether that system’s mandate.