Thurston County ambulances seeing long emergency room wait times
COVID unit at Harborview Medical Center. (File photo by Karen Ducey/Getty Images)
Thurston County ambulances are running into serious delays when they arrive at the hospital up to 90 minutes to be able to transport patients into emergency rooms.
Kurt Harden, director of Emergency Services for Thurston County, said that up to four ambulances can be waiting in the hospital parking lot at any given time because hospitals are filling up.
The problem has been building for a while, he said, but has really come to a head in the past week especially during daytime hours. One battalion chief told Harden last week that it was the worst day he had experienced in his 20-year career.
Skagit Valley Hospital, other North Sound facilities filling up
Hospitalizations are trending up in the North Sound. (Nicole Jennings, KIRO Radio)
Skagit Valley Hospital is at full capacity, and it is not the only hospital in the northwestern part of the state feeling the pinch.
Skagit Regional Health Regional Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Connie Davis said visits to the ER, ICU, and hospital stays in general have all increased over the past month.
However, she said they are well-prepared to handle the skyrocketing numbers.
“We are at our capacity but being flexible like we are, and all that we’ve learned over the last year, year-and-a-half, we’ve been able to make space,” Davis said. “And our staff has been extremely responsive to the care needs.”
The permanent extension are now complete but the council wants to retain the temporary classrooms. Council officer Connie Davis said: “The reasoning for this is that the continued additional space is required by the school due to the Covid-19 pandemic, to ensure that they are compliant in terms of safety, and to comply with school forecasting, as the school needs to ensure it has five per cent floating capacity available to provide accommodation to students should the need arise.” Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the school is using the additional space to allow for greater separation distances between pupils during the pandemic.
Younger people are getting sicker from COVID, Washington hospital leaders say By Evan Bush, The Seattle Times
Published: April 27, 2021, 8:18am
Share: Holden Village resident Krista Mathistad, center, is about to receive a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine administered by paramedic Mistaya Johnston on a porch of their community building on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Behind Mathistad are others who have been vaccinated or waiting for their vaccine. (Amanda Snyder/The Seattle Times/TNS)
Hospital leaders Monday said that a fourth wave of COVID-19 is driving up hospitalizations in Washington, that young patients make up an increasing proportion of their workload and that some are suffering from more severe disease than earlier in the pandemic.