What should I do if I need treatment for something other than COVID during Illinois surge?
Hospitals in southwestern Illinois and elsewhere are seeing more COVID-19 patients as infections increase.
What does this mean for people who need treatment for medical concerns other than COVID-19?
What is the latest advice from health officials to reduce the likelihood of needing hospitalization for COVID-19?
And when could this surge reach its peak?
Here are some answers from hospital leaders to these and other questions you may have:
Q: What’s the situation in the metro-east?
A: The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals across the region has been rising since November, along with the number of infections in the community.
The surge is likely caused by the highly-contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus circulating in communities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says omicron has become the dominant strain in the U.S., including in Illinois and surrounding states.
The metro-east has reported its 10 highest infection rates of the pandemic from Dec. 29 to Jan. 7, Illinois Department of Public Health data on the percentage of positive COVID-19 test results from the region show.
And the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized across the region grew from 43 at the beginning of November to 249 by the beginning of January, according to statistics provided by the St. Clair County Health Department.
Q: What’s the situation in individual hospitals and hospital systems?
A: Hospital representatives for Memorial Hospitals in Belleville and Shiloh, St. Elizabeth’s in O’Fallon, Gateway Regional Medical Center in Granite City and Anderson Hospital in Maryville say they are shifting available staff as needed daily to handle the spike in admissions.
They say they are also evaluating the elective procedures they can schedule at a given time depending on the amount of patients they have with COVID-19 and other medical needs.
The Hospital Sisters Health System announced Friday it had reached a record-high number of COVID-19 patients — 303 — in its medical facilities across Illinois and Wisconsin. Dr. Marc Shelton, senior vice president and chief clinical officer of HSHS, said during a news conference that all of the hospitals in the system were at “near-record level.”
Its hospitals in southwestern Illinois include St. Elizabeth’s, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Highland, Holy Family Hospital in Greenville and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Breese.
HSHS said St. Joseph’s in Highland is moving walk-in clinic patients from the hospital’s emergency room to a conference room because of an increase in people seeking care at the ER and clinic, which share an entrance and waiting room.
Starting Tuesday, St. Joseph’s PrimeCare clinic will see patients for unscheduled, non-emergency care in the hospital’s Sullivan Conference Room during peak hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., to cut down on wait times and give patients more space to socially distance in waiting areas. Social distancing refers to staying at least 6 feet away from others, the distance experts say helps prevent the coronavirus from spreading.
Terri Halloran, vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer at Memorial Hospitals in Belleville and Shiloh, said both campuses have seen a “major increase” in COVID-19 patients.
Halloran said about 10-20% of COVID-19 patients will usually end up in the intensive care unit. Higher numbers of COVID-19 patients means more people needing ICU care, she said.
Anderson Hospital’s intensive and intermediate care units were “operating at peak hospital capacity” as of Friday, including eight COVID-19 patients who were on ventilators, according to hospital spokeswoman Natalie Head.
Head added that hospitals in the region are working together and with EMS to balance out their patient loads of people arriving by ambulance.
Gateway Regional Medical Center is seeing higher numbers of COVID-19 patients than at the start of the pandemic, according to hospital spokeswoman Beth Ann Gailey. Diane Scrum, the hospital’s chief nursing officer, said they were not yet at capacity as of Friday, when they had 16 COVID-19 patients.
Hospitals are asking people not to go to an emergency room if all they want is a COVID-19 test, because ERs are currently busy treating patients who have the respiratory disease. Instead, they encourage community members to go to a community testing site, such as the St. Clair Square Mall site, or a pharmacy for testing.
Q: How many of the hospitalized patients are unvaccinated?
A: A majority of the people hospitalized for COVID-19 have been unvaccinated, according to local hospitals and hospital systems.
Here are some specific numbers they’ve provided:
- St. Elizabeth’s, Touchette and Memorial hospitals have reported that between 54% and 93% of COVID-19 patients receiving care from Aug. 25 to Jan. 5 were unvaccinated, according to statistics the hospitals send to the county health department.
- Of the record 303 COVID-19 patients in HSHS hospitals last week, 76% were unvaccinated, the hospital system stated in a news release.
Q: What should I do if I need treatment for something other than COVID-19?
A: Hospital leaders agree: Don’t put off seeking treatment just because of the pandemic, especially for something serious such as heart attack or stroke symptoms.
The current surge doesn’t necessarily mean you need to put off elective procedures either, and officials say you should keep up on preventative appointments.
Continue seeking appointments that can identify possible medical issues such as mammograms, colorectal screenings and general physician visits, which won’t increase hospitalizations because they don’t require you to be admitted, hospital representatives say.
“That’s something we’ve learned from the past surges: when you shut everything down, people who need health care, that service is delayed and they can get worse instead of being able to maintain their health,” Halloran, from Memorial, said.
Check with your provider about possible scheduling delays for elective surgeries, because hospitals continue reviewing how best to manage their employees and meet patient needs.
Halloran said the Memorial campuses in Belleville and Shiloh have reduced the number of electives that result in overnight stays in the hospitals so workers can deal with the surge of COVID-19 patients. But they continue scheduling procedures that can’t be delayed by more than four weeks and any emergency procedures, according to Halloran.
Representatives at St. Elizabeth’s, Touchette, Gateway Regional Medical Center and Anderson Hospital said they continue discussing the potential need for delays, but none had been implemented at those locations as of this past week.
Q: How can I protect myself from COVID-19 and from needing hospitalization during this surge?
A: Even fully-vaccinated people can become infected with the omicron variant, but COVID-19 vaccines have been effective in protecting people from severe illness, hospitalization and death, according to the CDC.
In a New Year’s Day letter to the community, 10 metro-east hospitals implored residents to take the vaccine to reduce the risk of hospitalization and to take precautions like wearing a face covering in public to reduce the risk of exposure.
Here is an excerpt from the letter:
“We know you’re tired of COVID-19 — trust us, we are, too. You’re tired of being told to get vaccinated and boosted, wear your mask and avoid crowds. We know you are tired of hearing about the surge. You’re tired of life being cancelled. You just want to get back to normal.
“We want that, too, but we aren’t there yet. We are here to serve traumas, illnesses, and yes, many COVID-19 patients, most of whom are unvaccinated. Our teams are strained. Capacity is being pushed to the limit.
“We’re tired, but we’re not going anywhere. We’re here to care for you, support you and give you the best of ourselves, whatever may come. But we need your help to start 2022 with a chance to reduce COVID-19 hospitalizations.
“Our wish this New Year is simple — take one more step to protect yourself and those around you. Don’t look back and think about the ‘what ifs.’ ‘What if I had stayed home when I was ill?’ ‘What if I had worn a mask in crowded indoor areas?’
“Please get vaccinated and boosted. Please get tested. And please mask when you should.”
Visit vaccines.gov to find locations offering the vaccine near you.
Touchette Regional Hospital spokesman Steve Tomaszewski said community members can also call the hospital’s COVID-19 services hotline at 618-946-2596 to get information about vaccine availability in St. Clair and Madison counties.
Q: When could this surge reach its peak?
A: Shelton, the top official for HSHS, said Friday he predicted COVID-19 cases that are surging now would peak in about two to three weeks.
“My prediction on when the peak is: I’m hoping less than two weeks. ... It could be more like three, hopefully not four,” Shelton told reporters at a news conference.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the time between exposure to the coronavirus and getting sick with COVID-19 is thought to be about two weeks. Shelton noted that the surge follows New Year’s and Christmas holidays, when people are more likely to have gathered with friends and family and potentially exposed themselves to the virus.
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
