Kaiser acknowledges dire situation at hospitals due to COVID
(Photo supplied by Kaiser Permanente)
Less than two weeks after Kaiser Permanente attempted to reassure members of the public that its hospital system was ready to confront an explosion in novel coronavirus infections, the health care company has finally acknowledged its doctors, nurses and other staff are being pushed to the brink.
On Wednesday, Kaiser Permanente released a new video as part of a campaign called “Don’t Share Your Air” that encouraged California residents to take extra precautions over the holiday weekend as the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths continues to increase.
“This surge is beyond what anybody could have imagined,” Pravin Acharya, an emergency medicine doctor at Kaiser’s Downey hospital, said in the video. “If people continue to gather for the upcoming holidays, we are going to cripple our hospital system.”
Earlier this month, Solano News Update exclusively reported Kaiser Permanente was running dangerously low on intensive care unit bed space in its two Solano County hospitals. Those intensive care resources are needed for the treatment of serious, life-threatening emergencies, including complicated medical conditions that can be brought on from an infection of COVID-19 in sensitive groups like the elderly and those with pre-existing health issues.
The report was based on health data collected and reported by state officials. Shortly after the report was published, a Kaiser Permanente spokesperson said the data was inaccurate and painted a more-alarming picture than what was actually taking place in Solano County.
In a follow-up e-mail, Kaiser Permanente spokesperson Michelle Gaskill-Hames said the hospital network “maintained a continued state of readiness for additional COVID-19 cases,” which included “quickly increase treatment space by converting existing space and adding equipment.”
“Our command centers continue to monitor the situation carefully to ensure we have the resources, capacity and staff available to care for the rapidly-increasing number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients while also maintaining access to healthcare services for our members and the communities we serve,” Gaskill-Hames said.
But a Vallejo nurse who agreed to speak with Solano News Update on background said things at Kaiser Permanente were more chaotic than what the healthcare company was revealing.
“You can’t adequately prepare for something like this,” the nurse, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said in an interview. Kaiser was responding to the increase in cases by demanding personnel work longer hours, including double shifts, the nurse claimed.
On Wednesday, Kaiser Permanente finally acknowledged its critical state. In a video published to YouTube and distributed to news outlets, Kaiser Permanente interviewed several front-line hospital workers who warned its hospitals were being pushed beyond capacity.
The video also included interviews with health workers at other hospitals, including Sutter Health where a Roseville doctor said she witnessed nurses who were pushed to the bring of exhaustion.
“Every day, I come to work worried about what I’m going to see today,” the doctor said.
Other health officials interviewed said they felt betrayed when members of the public behave in a way that suggests they aren’t taking the viral pandemic seriously.
“It feels like a slap in the face,” a nurse said.
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