GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The Wisconsin Hospital Association reports there has been a recent surge in hospitals statewide, as well as Northeast Wisconsin.
“Now that we see the numbers going back up, we know that our staff, our nurses, and other healthcare partners, they’re weary, they’re tired. Knowing what they could potentially expect with this next go-around, there’s a lot of concern,” HSHS St. Mary’s and St. Vincent Chief Nursing Officer Ken Nelson said.
HSHS is seeing an increase in COVID hospitalizations, as well as other hospitalizations in general.
“So far, we have the staff we need to take care of these patients, we still have the beds but we are getting tight on capacity,” Nelson said.
Nelson tells FOX 11 most admitted to the hospitals for COVID are unvaccinated.
ThedaCare is also seeing a rise in cases at hospitals, but officials say it has not reached the point of where it was the first two waves.
“There’s no question this delta variant is spreading quickly. There’s a high transmission rate in the community right now. Fortunately it has not caused a lot of impact on the hospital, but our rates have gone up in the past week especially,” ThedaCare Department of Infectious Diseases Director Dr. David Brooks said.
In a statement from Advocate Aurora Health, the organization says:
“As more people in our communities received their vaccines, our inpatient COVID numbers dropped significantly throughout the first half of the year, but we have seen an increase in recent weeks. As the highly contagious Delta variant spreads across the country, inpatient COVID hospitalizations across the Advocate Aurora Health system have increased nine-fold from our low in mid-July. Still, this represents about a quarter of the peak of hospitalizations we experienced in late November.
At Aurora BayCare Medical Center we have seen the number of inpatient COVID hospitalizations double in the last week and we are prepared for a continued increase in hospitalizations with surge plans in place. As part of a large system, we have the flexibility to allocate resources when and where needed.
We know the most effective way to slow the spread of COVID is to get vaccinated. This vaccine is safe, and it’s highly effective in preventing infection and even more so, serious illness and death.”
Bellin and HSHS recently reopened their COVID incident commands to prepare for the surge in cases.
“In preparation for the trends we’re starting to see, that allows us to put some focus on what I see as the three S’, staff, space and supplies,” Bellin Health emergency management specialist Dave Kobielak said.
Other healthcare systems are also making preparations. Health officials are encouraging everyone to get vaccinated.
“There’s plenty of opportunity, there are plenty of places to do that. That is really the greatest defense against getting incredibly sick from COVID,” Nelson said.
Hospital officials are also recommending other mitigation strategies, like masking.
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