Flexibility has been the name of the game for COVID-19 response, regardless of where you look. And that includes visitation policies at Newman Regional Health.
Chief Executive Officer Bob Wright says the hospital is doing its best to be responsive as the pandemic continues. Part of that is letting patients have one designated visitor per day, and that designated visitor can change from day to day. There are also exceptions as necessary in cases like patient transfers and patients “at significant risk of not surviving COVID or other conditions.”
The latest policies are online at www.newmanrh.org.
Meanwhile, patient census numbers — a key part of Thursday’s update — were high to close out January and get into February. Daily census numbers ranged from 11-16 between Jan. 20 and Feb. 2. The ongoing trend of more fully-vaccinated COVID-19 patients needing overnight stays continued with 25 percent of hospitalized patients since July 1 now fully vaccinated, but the hospital says vaccinated patients are hospitalized for an average of four days — less than half the nearly 10-day average stay for unvaccinated patients. Transfers take close to two hours to process but can take over 17 hours at times.
Also, hospital administrators were dealing with a major blood shortage at the end of January. Chief Administrative Officer Cathy Pimple says that has eased — somewhat — so the hospital is “at a safe level” while using a “conservative approach” for its blood supply.
Locally, blood drives resume Feb. 22 at Emporia’s First Church of the Nazarene, as well as March 8 at Emporia High and a three-day drive — March 9-11 — at Newman Regional Health. Residents can go online to www.redcrossblood.org or call 800-RED CROSS to set appointments.
