GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Wisconsin Health Services data shows the seven-county northeast region has 113 COVID-19 patients in its hospitals.
Bellin Executive Vice President and CFO Jim Dietsche tells FOX 11 it’s an all-time high.
“As of today, that’s up 39 from just a week ago.”
Bellin says they are almost at capacity.
St. Mary’s and St. Vincent say they’re almost full too.
Not only are hospitals seeing a surge in patients, Dietsche says they’re also seeing more exposure among healthcare workers.
“Fortunately we haven’t had a lot of people that have been COVID-positive but we have had a lot of people that have been exposed outside of work and are effectively quarantined.”
“When this all first started in the spring, we were still learning a lot about COVID and we spent a lot of time planning for things. But now what’s different is what you just said. We also have our own caregivers, our own physicians, our own staff members that are also either themselves getting ill or having family that they have to care for who are maybe ill as well,” HSHS St. Mary’s and HSHS St. Vincent chief nursing officer Ken Nelson said.
“They are the people that take care of our community and we want to make sure that they are kept safe so that we can take care of the community,” Dietsche said.
Bellin, St Mary’s, and St. Vincent hospitals are calling on the community for help.
“It’s the same things that we’ve heard but I don’t think I can say it enough. People need to practice safe social distancing, preferably at home but if you have to be out and about, be mindful and socially distance, keep washing your hands, and wear that mask,” Nelson said.
“The community is nearing its hospital capacity. That challenges our ability to take care of people that don’t have COVID, that have other conditions. Our mission is to take care of all the healthcare needs across our region, not just COVID patients. And that’s what we want to accomplish,” Dietsche said.
Gov. Tony Evers issued an emergency order Thursday to help with medical staffing.
It allows licensed, out-of-state health care providers to work in Wisconsin.
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