Hospital Administration at Passavant says the surge of COVID cases the hospital prepared for in March is happening now.
Passavant Area Hospital continues to see increases in the number of COVID patients both visiting and being admitted for treatment.
In July, Passavant Area Hospital, and the entire Memorial Health System was at it’s lowest point of need for COVID treatment, with several dates during the period where no patients were admitted due to COVID.
President and CEO of Passavant, Dr. Scott Boston said during an appearance this morning on the AM Conversation on WLDS, that across the Memorial network of five separate hospitals combined, there were approximately 5 to 7 patients admitted at the time on average.
Boston says the number of patients admitted to the hospital in recent weeks has become alarming.
“What we’ve seen recently is dramatic. You could say it’s almost an exponential increase in that number of admitted COVID patients. We’ve been averaging five or six COVID patients a day for the last couple of weeks, and the heath system as a total when we count all five of the hospitals we’ve been upwards of eighty patients. So a very dramatic increase.”
Boston says Passavant has been fortunate to be able to take advantage of it’s affiliation with Memorial Health Systems, including access to it’s network of infection disease and prevention experts, increased access to P.P.E. Supplies, and pharmaceuticals.
Boston said Community spread is far more prevalent now, versus patients coming to the hospital from congregate living settings, and the increases in cases and hospitalizations is something the community as a whole needs to take very seriously.
After the interview with Dr. Boston, Memorial Health System declined to answer a follow up question by WLDS News inquiring on the available capacity at Passavant.
MHS said in a statement to WLDS News- “Currently, the Illinois Department of Public Health reports that Region 3, which includes Jacksonville, has roughly 30 percent of ICU beds and 35 percent of other surge beds available. While the number of patients in intensive care fluctuates, Memorial Health System consistently mirrors Region 3 in its ICU availability.
Passavant Area Hospital, as part of MHS, works within our network to place patients where they can receive the appropriate level of care. Passavant has adequate capacity to treat COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients for both emergency and routine care needs. Regionally, Memorial Medical Center has the ability to rapidly convert other care areas into ICU beds for COVID-19 patients if that became necessary.”
According to the Passavant website, the hospital has a total capacity of 93 beds.