There are about 300 hospitalizations of patients with COVID-19 in Washoe County. As of Monday morning, 188 of them were staying at one of Renown Health's hospitals. 27 of those are in the Intensive Care Unit and 17 of those are on a ventilator. The numbers are expected to get even worse in the coming weeks.
"The number of positive cases in the community that we've experienced in the last week, that's likely to lead to increased hospitalizations in the community," Dr. Tony Slonim, President & CEO of Renown Health said.
About 10 percent of all of Nevada's positive cases of COVID-19 happened last week. Renown's COVID hospitalizations are already nearly five times higher than the average over the past several months of 40 patients. Slonim says if the data and trends continue like expected, Renown will have at least 100-150 additional COVID patients in the next couple of weeks but that could also be much higher.
"We expect that the surge will continue through the end of the calendar year and on the large end, we could expect hundreds more patients," Slonim said.
The state's 14-day rolling average for new daily cases is 1,583 with a test positivity rate of 16.7 percent.
"The positivity rate leads to increased hospitalizations, which leads to increased ICU admissions, which leads to increased ventilator care, which leads to more deaths," Slonim said.
Renown opened its Alternate Care Site on the bottom floor of one of its parking garages on November 12. 27 patients who are nearing a recovery are currently using the facility. The site has 700 beds with the ability to double that.
"We're prepared to serve additional hospitalized patients, diagnosed with COVID-19 who are clinically stable and improving in the Alternate Care Site before they're ready to return home," Slonim said. "While I'm optimistic that we won't need the whole thing, it's likely we will need hundreds of beds in there over the next couple of weeks to care for people."
Renown is using technology that allows health care workers to monitor patients, remotely, while allowing them to recover at home.
"The patients wear a device on their finger and wrist that allows our critical care staff to track key changes in their vital signs such as oxygen saturation, respiration rate and pulse rate," Slonim said. "As you can imagine, our patients are loving this technology and having them at home also saves a bed for a neighbor who might be in need."
Renown has also been hiring more staff and health care workers for the past few months, including traveling nurses. The hospitals have enough licensed beds to handle more patients but it may not necessarily have enough staff to handle those patients. Even with enough staff, Slonim says it will be a tough road ahead.
"We are battling a pandemic that just doesn't seem like it will go away," Slonim said.
Thanksgiving Day is just three days away. Slonim is encouraging people to follow the safety guidelines by wearing masks, washing hands and keeping physical distance. He says Nevadans should follow Governor Steve Sisolak's restrictions and limit gathering sizes during Thanksgiving.
"We're not doing enough to prevent the spread. Everyone who hears this message can take personal responsibility and do something," Slonim said. "I hope that other people heed the warning. It's not so much only your immediate family. It's who comes in to bear."
He says following the guidelines can also help front line workers and first responders. Some of them have already contracted the virus either at work or through community transmission.
"I am appreciative for of the Renown employees and front line providers who even on Thanksgiving Day will go into harm's way and care for people who have COVID and spend time away from their families so that others might heal and get back to health," Slonim said.
Despite the rise in COVID hospitalizations, Slonim says it is still important for other people who need medical treatment to go to the hospital, and that there is still plenty of room for non-COVID patients. Renown is still scheduling necessary surgeries during the pandemic.
