New coronavirus cases hit a daily record in Lyon County on Friday, and Newman Regional Health saw some of that traffic this past weekend.
Chief Executive Officer Bob Wright tells KVOE News COVID-related traffic started increasing Friday evening, shortly after Lyon County Public Health announced 45 new cases.
With coronavirus cases generally increasing at a steady rate for months aside from Friday, Wright says hospital administrators have adjusted their approach to housing patients. Initially, the hospital turned its former intensive care unit into an eight-bed COVID Care Unit. Now, the hospital will use beds on the third floor or the ground-floor observation unit.
If those beds fill, the plan then is to set up patients in intensive care. Wright says those beds have the capacity of closing the doors and reducing any infection spread.
Last week, the Newman Regional Health Board of Trustees discussed accepting non-COVID or post-COVID patients from hospitals in Topeka and Wichita that may be at or past capacity due to coronavirus and other medical needs. That plan is still in place, but Wright says those hospitals would have to reach out to Newman Regional Health to secure bed space.
