UNC hospitals: COVID peak still ahead, but we’ve got staff, beds and PPE to handle it
Leaders of two of the Triangle’s largest hospitals say they don’t think the coronavirus outbreak has crested in the region but they’re confident they have the beds, equipment and staffing to handle the peak when it arrives.
Janet Hadar, president of UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, and Ernie Bovio, president of UNC Rex Healthcare in Raleigh, say they don’t know when hospitals will see the full surge of COVID-19 patients. The oft-cited University of Washington model says North Carolina is experiencing the worst of it now, but other models, including ones done for the state Department of Health and Human Services, suggest the peak won’t come until mid to late May.
“There’s so many different models out there that have peaks at different times in the next few weeks,” Bovio said. “We’re prepared for it but not sure when it’s going to be here.”
Hadar said the hospitals have expanded bed capacity, redeployed staff and stockpiled equipment, so they should have plenty of all three when the peak comes.
“Our approach has consistently been to be prepared in any scenario,” she said. “So if it’s a slow and steady increase over the summer, we have ways to manage that. If there’s a quick peak in June, we’re prepared to manage that.”
Bovio and Hadar say current trends show the hospitals may be able to begin performing non-urgent surgeries and other procedures in the coming weeks. Hospitals postponed these kinds of services to free up staff, equipment and patient beds to devote to coronavirus cases, and now it appears they may not all be needed for the outbreak, Bovio said.
“We’re planning to introduce and phase-in, hopefully soon, a safe way to bring those patients back who have postponed their care,” he said. “As long as we have capacity, we have supply and equipment and we can do it in a safe way, we’re starting the planning process for that now.”
Plenty of capacity statewide so far
About 450 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized statewide as of Thursday morning, according to the state DHHS. The number fluctuates daily, depending on how many hospitals report to the state, but is far short of exceeding the capacity of North Carolina’s hospitals.
About 50 of those hospitalized COVID-19 patients are spread across the 11 UNC Health hospitals accross the state, according to spokesman Alan Wolf.
Both Rex and UNC Hospitals are prepared to expand their bed capacity by repurposing other spaces. Rex is normally licensed to have 439 beds, including 78 in the intensive care unit; it now has permission from the state and the ability to increase that number to 768, including 230 ICU beds, Bovio said.
Hader said the medical center in Chapel Hill can increase its number of patient beds from 950 to 1,244.
We have “a lot of capacity right now within our four walls before even having to think about going outside the walls of the hospital,” she said.
UNC Health acknowledged Wednesday that a dozen employees at the Chapel Hill medical center are out of work after contracting coronavirus, and that an unspecified number of others had tested positive in the past and returned to work after finishing their quarantine periods.
Despite those kinds of absences, staffing levels remain good, Bovio and Hader said. That’s in part because doctors, nurses and other health care workers freed up by cutbacks in non-urgent procedures have been retrained to help with COVID-19 patients if necessary, they said.
As for masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment, the hospital presidents say supplies are good. They’ve had success securing more through their regular suppliers and have received more than 1 million items in donations from individuals, organizations and businesses.
“We’re feeling pretty good about our PPE situation right now,” Bovio said. “If we do get a massive surge over the next couple of months, we have time now to prep, given the trends. We feel much better about it today than we did six weeks ago.”
