Banner hospitals could overflow before Christmas with coronavirus patients
Dec 10, 2020, 4:45 AM
Banner Health's chief clinical officer Dr. Marjorie Bessel. (Screenshot)
(Screenshot)
PHOENIX — It’s what no one wants for Christmas: Hospitals bursting at the seams with a new surge of coronavirus patients.
Another one could put Banner Health hospitals at 120% capacity by Dec. 18, as Banner’s chief clinical officer says those patients can require entire medical teams for treatment.
“That will mean more difficult caring for other individuals who have heart attacks, strokes, infections and the like,” Dr. Marjorie Bessel told news reporters in a virtual news conference on Wednesday.
She also doesn’t want to lose elective surgeries — and their source of income — like at the start of the pandemic, as Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey ordered them to be suspended to have hospitals intensify care for COVID-19 patients.
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“They’re not cosmetic surgeries,” Bessel said. “They’re things like mastectomies, hip replacements and gall bladder surgeries.”
Elective surgeries make up just five percent of Banner’s care, but she says but they cannot be compromised.
“Patients who have these surgeries postponed due to capacity constraints have the risk of deteriorating or needing to come in on a more urgent or emergent basis,” Bessel said.
The state is giving hospitals $85 million to hire new employees and Banner must hire 406 new nurses, respiratory therapists, medical assistants and more to get through the holidays.
Bessel wouldn’t say if Banner has learned its size of the share from the state, but she is hoping the FDA will grant a EUA — emergency use authorization — for Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine on Thursday.
If that’s the case, she said Banner could issue vaccines next week.
And just like the general public, Bessel says Banner Health employees have mixed feelings about taking the vaccine themselves.
“We have healthcare workers who are very anxious to get the vaccine and want to sign up right now even though we do not have our list ready yet or time slots for the vaccination,” Bessel said.
“In addition to that, as you might expect, we also have others who are waiting for information, and others who might be a little bit hesitant.”
Banner will not mandate the vaccine for employees. Bessel adds her hospitals have half of the state’s COVID-19 patients in their beds and intensive care units.
