I've been seeing some posts about hospitalizations not being "that bad" / being less than wave 2 in December- & some confusion as to why that is, given case # are higher this time around. I wanted to share the GIM experience (non-ICU ward that majority of covid is admitted to.)/1
In the fall, we had a large population of elderly patients who either succumbed rapidly to COVID, or if recovered, were incredibly deconditioned requiring prolonged (often >30 days) hospital stays to convalesce, improve nutrition, rehab./2
No one was vaccinated, therefore outbreaks amongst patients, staff, units (both in hospital and community) were occuring at much higher rates which affected admission spaces and capacity severely./3
With individual COVID teams caring for 20-25 critically ill patients, the ability to efficiently discharge became challenging due to stretched resources, rapid deterioration, and mental exhaustion. Without enough discharges in a day, the inflow rapidly exceeded the outflow. /4
This time around, there are two really key factors at play. 1) patients are younger, therefore those that recover, often do not need the weeks of inpatient rehab as in the fall. They are still fatigued and may have chronic lung sequelae, but are able to convalesce at home./5
Ward MD/operations/nursing: we are traumatized from the volume and inundation of Dec. We are digging as deep as we can to do whatever it takes to avoid that chaos. Working tirelessly all to ensure we keep the outflow higher than the inflow so that the system doesn't collapse./6
So while hospital numbers may look like they have plateaued, it is simply because at sites all across #yeg - COVID ward MDs are discharging 5-8 patients per day (per site) to keep up with the 7-10 new patients coming in. /7
I am so grateful for my GIM colleagues who are exhausted beyond measure, but continue to work their butts off to keep the system afloat.

#COVID19AB
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